Nilanjan
Indian Space Research Organization, popularly known as ISRO, has successfully launched Aditya-L1 today from Srihorikota, Andhra Pradesh. India’s debut solar mission is expected to study the sun and send valuable information and images back to ISRO.
Aditya L1 will stay nearly 1.5 million km away from the earth, which is only 1% of the distance between the sun and the earth. Aditya’s successful launch has added another feather to ISRO’s embellished cap after it created history with Chandrayaan-3’s soft landing near the moon’s South Pole.
Aditya L1 is ISRO’s ambitious solar mission. This is the first time that ISRO has worked on a solar mission to study the planet. The 44.4m tall PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) lifted off majestically at the scheduled time of 11.50 a.m.
ISRO has informed that Aditya L1 is the first space-based observatory that will explore the sun from a safe distance. The spacecraft will take 125 days to traverse the distance of 1.5 million km from the Earth, after which, it will be placed in a Halo orbit around the L1, also called Lagrange Point, which is closest to the sun.
The spacecraft will send pictures of the sun for experiments. Scientists have identified five Lagrange points i.e. parking areas between the sun and the earth. If a small object is parked at these points, it tends to remain at the spot. Space scientists target these points to park their space crafts so that these stay there and consume less fuel.
The PSLV-C57/Aditya L1 mission is considered one of the longest missions for ISRO, which involves their workhorse launch vehicle. However, 2016 PSLV-C35 mission is still the longest of the PSLV missions. It completed 2 hours 15 minutes and 33 seconds after the lift-off.
Aditya L1 will remain in the earth-bound orbits for 16 days. During this time, ISRO scientists will perform five maneuvers to achieve the required velocity for its space journey.
