IndiaBs spaace agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said that the counry's premier mission to Mars has successfully crossed the half-way mark

It took four months for the mission to corss the half way mark on its way to the planet. The mission is expected to take about 11 months to reach Mars. ISRO announced the milestone on Wednesday in a statement in Bangalore. The agency also pointed said that the probe and five scientific instruments on board are in good health.

The Mars Orbiter Mission known as "Mangalyaan" , which is of the size of a small car, is aiming to detect methane in the red planet's atmosphere. The presence of methane could provide evidence of life on the beighbouring planet. Mangalyaan was launched on November 5 from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh and already travelled about 337.5 million kilometres.

This is the first time that the country has sent an inter-planetary probe. Experts have said that more than half of all the missions to Mars have failed including those from Japan and China.

"The spacecraft on, Wednesday at 9.50 am, crossed the halfway mark of its journey to Mars along the designated helio (sun)-centric trajectory in the solar orbit," ISRO said in a statement.

The low cost mission, which costs just 3s. 450cr, was announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in August 2012.