Aditya L1: India’s first solar mission
India’s first solar mission, Aditya L1, has successfully performed its first earth-bound manoeuvre on Sunday, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The spacecraft was launched on September 1 from Sriharikota using a PSLV-C51 rocket and is on its way to the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, where it will orbit around an imaginary point between the two celestial bodies.
Aditya L1 is India’s first dedicated mission to study the sun and its various phenomena, such as the corona, the solar wind, the magnetic field and the solar flares. The mission aims to provide valuable insights into the origin and evolution of the solar system, as well as the effects of solar activity on Earth’s climate and communication systems.
The mission has a total of seven payloads, including four remote sensing instruments and three in-situ detectors. The main payload is the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC), which will observe the corona, the outermost layer of the sun that is visible only during a total solar eclipse. The VELC will also measure the magnetic field of the corona and capture images and spectra of solar flares.
The other payloads include the Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT), which will image the photosphere and chromosphere of the sun in different wavelengths; the Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS) and the High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS), which will monitor the soft and hard X-ray emissions from the sun; the Aditya Solar wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX), which will measure the properties of the solar wind particles; and the Advanced Tri-axial High Resolution Digital Magnetometers, which will record the in-situ magnetic field variations.
Aditya L1 is expected to reach its final orbit around L1 by December 2023, after several more manoeuvres. The mission has a planned duration of five years, but could be extended depending on its performance and scientific objectives. Aditya L1 is a milestone for India’s space programme, as it will enhance its capabilities in solar physics and space weather forecasting. It will also contribute to the global efforts to understand the sun and its influence on our planet. worldnewsstudio.com/aditya-l1-indias-first-solar-mission/