NE SCIENCE & TECH BUREAU
SRIHARIKOTA, SEPT 2
ISRO on Saturday launched the country’s ambitious Solar mission, Aditya L1 eyeing history again after its successful lunar expedition, Chandrayan 3 a few days ago.
As the 23.40-hour countdown concluded, the 44.4 meter tall Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) soared majestically at the prefixed time of 11.50 am from this spaceport, located on the Eastern coast about 135 km from Chennai.
It will be PSLV’s “longest flight” for about 63 minutes.
According to ISRO, Aditya-L1 is the first space-based observatory to study the Sun. The spacecraft, after traveling about 1.5 million km from the Earth over 125 days, is expected to be placed in a Halo orbit around the Lagrangian point L1 which is considered closest to the Sun.
Among others, it will send pictures of the sun for scientific experiments.
According to scientists, there are five Lagrangian points (or parking areas) between the Earth and the Sun where a small object tends to stay if put there. The Lagrange Points are named after Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange for his prize-winning paper — “Essai sur le Problème des Trois Corps, 1772.” These points in space can be used by spacecraft to remain there with reduced fuel consumption.
At a Lagrange point, the gravitational pull of the two large bodies (the Sun and the Earth) equals the necessary centripetal force required for a small object to move with them.
After the lift-off at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, the scientists would be involved in placing the spacecraft at Low Earth Orbit initially, and later it will be more elliptical.
The spacecraft would be launched towards the Lagrange L1 point using on-board propulsion so that it exits the earth’s gravitational Sphere of Influence and cruises towards the L1. Later, it would be injected into a large Halo Orbit around L1 point near the Sun.
The total time from launch to reaching the L1 point would be about four months for the Aditya-L1 Mission, ISRO said.
Explaining the reasons to study the Sun, ISRO said it emits radiation in nearly all wavelengths along with various energetic particles and magnetic fields.
The atmosphere of the Earth as well as its magnetic field acts as a protective shield and blocks harmful wavelength radiations. In order to detect such radiation, solar studies are carried out from space.
The major objectives of the mission include understanding the Coronal Heating and Solar Wind Acceleration, the initiation of Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), near-earth space weather and the solar wind distribution.
The Aditya-L1 mission carries seven scientific payloads to carry out the study.
The Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) will study the solar corona and dynamics of CME.
VELC, the primary payload will be sending 1,440 images per day to the ground station for analysis on reaching the intended orbit.
It is “the largest and technically most challenging” payload on Aditya-L1.
The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope would do imaging of the Solar photosphere and Chromosphere in near Ultraviolet and measure the solar irradiance variations.
The Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX) and Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA) payloads will study the solar wind and energetic ions as well as the energy distribution.
The Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer and the High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS) will study the X-ray flares from the Sun over a wide X-ray energy range.
The Magnetometer payload is capable of measuring interplanetary magnetic fields at the L1 point.
The payloads of Aditya-L1 are indigenously developed with the close collaboration of various centers of ISRO.
‘India continues its space journey’, PM Modi, Amit Shah, and others congratulate ISRO on Solar mission
After the success of Chandrayaan-3, India continues its space journey.
Congratulations to our scientists and engineers at @isro for the successful launch of India’s first Solar Mission, Aditya -L1.
Our tireless scientific efforts will continue in order to develop better…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 2, 2023
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday extended greetings to the team of ISRO scientists and engineers who were involved in the successful launch of the Aditya-L1 Mission. PM Modi also said that India continues its space journey after Chandrayaan-3.
“Our tireless scientific efforts will continue in order to develop better understanding of the Universe for the welfare of entire humanity,” the Prime Minister further said.
Time and again our scientists have proved their might and brilliance. The nation is proud and delighted over the successful launch of Aditya L1, India's first solar mission.
Kudos to the team @isro for this unparalleled accomplishment. It is a giant stride towards fulfilling PM… pic.twitter.com/XEacBvLxoj
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) September 2, 2023
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during his visit to poll-bound Chhattisgarh, congratulated ISRO scientists for the successful launch of India’s Solar mission on Saturday, September 2.
“I extend heartiest congratulations to everyone on the launch of mission Aditya,” Shah said at a public event in Raipur.
ISRO chairman S Somanath also said that it’s a very long journey of 125 days. “I congratulate PSLV for such a very different mission approach to do the Aditya-L1 Mission. From now, the Mission will start its journey from the L1 point. It’s a very long journey of almost 125 days. Let us wish all the best to Aditya spacecraft.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the successful launch of the Aditya-L1 mission. The saffron party has posted the greetings on its official X handle.
“Congratulations to ISRO for the successful launch of India’s first Solar Mission Aditya L1!” BJP wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
ISRO’s spacecraft successfully launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota on Saturday. With this, India inched one step closer to the completion of its maiden Solar expedition. ISRO’s trusted PSLV will carry the Aditya L1 mission on a 125-day voyage to the Sun.
The Aditya L1 spacecraft will stay in Earth’s orbit for sixteen days. After four months of journey, the satellite will be placed on the L1 point in the halo orbit around the Sun.
Aditya L1 is designed to provide remote observations of the Solar corona and conduct in-situ observations of the Solar wind at L1 (Sun-Earth Lagrangian point), which is about 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth.
