Maiden solar mission Aditya L1 sets off for 4-month journey: Here’s all you need to know

India efficiently launched its first space-based photo voltaic observatory mission, Aditya-L1, on Saturday marking a fortnight of outstanding achievement by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), starting with the touchdown of Vikram close to the south pole of the moon in late August.

Following its take-off at midday from the spaceport on the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, the satellite tv for pc efficiently separated from the launch automobile some time later. Soon after, Isro chief S Somanath confirmed that the satellite tv for pc had been “injected in an elliptical orbit and is on its way to the Sun on its four-month long journey”.

Terming the profitable launch of Aditya-L1 as “a dream come true for (her) team,” Aditya-L1 undertaking director Nigar Shaji mentioned she was “extremely happy that it has been injected into the intended orbit flawlessly by the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV)”.

“Aditya-L1 solar panels have been deployed and it has started its 125 days of long journey towards L1. After the earth-centred orbit transfer, exit from the earth sphere of influence, and the trans L1 injection finally insertion into the halo orbit will be achieved,” mentioned the 59-year-old scientist. After its journey of 125 days, as soon as Aditya-L1 is commissioned, “it will be an asset to heliophysics and the global scientific community,” she famous.

Shaji in addition to the stellar group of scientists at Isro got here in for reward from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who posted on X, “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 a better understanding of the universe for the welfare of entire humanity.”

Elliptical Orbit

Pointing out that the Aditya-L1 launch is the 59th mission undertaken by Isro’s PSLV, mission director SR Biju mentioned, “It was challenging to meet the orbital requirements. It required a “new mission strategy and to validate this, numerous simulations were done”, he mentioned.The Aditya-L1 spacecraft was injected into an elliptical orbit very exactly with the higher stage of the PSLV taking two burn sequences for injecting the first satellite tv for pc for the primary time, in accordance with Biju.

After some earth-bound manoeuvres, it should begin its journey to the L1 level, Somanath mentioned.

Chandrayaan-3 rover’s 100 metre sprint

Somanath mentioned he’s very happy with the truth that Isro may undertake the Aditya-L1 mission in fast succession to Chandrayaan-3. Discussing the progress of Pragyan rover and Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-3, he advised reporters that “the rover has moved almost 100 metres from the lander and we are going to start the process of making both of them sleep in the coming one or two days because it has to withstand the night,” he added.

Late on Saturday night time, ISRO posted on X saying that Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyan rover has been set into sleep mode.

“The Rover completed its assignments. It is now safely parked and set into Sleep mode. APXS and LIBS payloads are turned off. Data from these payloads is transmitted to the Earth via the Lander,” the house company mentioned.

Currently, the battery is totally charged. The photo voltaic panel is oriented to obtain the sunshine on the subsequent dawn anticipated on September 22, 2023. The receiver is stored on.

“Hoping for a successful awakening for another set of assignments! Else, it will forever stay there as India’s lunar ambassador,” ISRO mentioned in its poignant word.

The mission lifetime of the rover is one lunar day or 14 earth days. As the lunar day is coming to an finish, the rover has been parked in a spot the place its photo voltaic panels will obtain daylight when the subsequent dawn occurs on the moon. If the electronics aboard the rover survive the freezing lunar temperatures, it should come again to life on September 22, which is a bonus. But if it would not, the rover will stay as is.

Isro scientists who draw from a 61-year legacy of scientific endeavour additionally recommended the work of those that got here earlier than them. Aditya-L1 undertaking director Shaji mentioned, “I’d like to remember Prof UR Rao (former Isro chief) who sowed the seed for this mission. Looking forward to great science output from the Aditya-L1 mission.”

Shaji advised ET the Sun was not very quiet. It has photo voltaic occasions and coronal mass ejections. The photo voltaic wind travels all the photo voltaic system and reaches the earth additionally. “Our magnetic field protects us but the space weather is picking up. Space hazards have increased manifold, it is not like earlier days,” she mentioned.

CMEs (coronal mass ejections) can discharge massive quantities of particles which might have an effect on our spacecraft, that are already in orbit, she added.

So, to check that and have a greater understanding of photo voltaic coronal heating phenomena there are seven devices — two are imaging devices, one research the corona and coronal mass ejection, and the opposite will probably be learning the disc. In addition, two x-ray spectrometers will research the origin of the photo voltaic flares, how it’s emanating, and the way it’s related to CMEs, Shaji mentioned.

The three in-situ devices will “measure the velocity and identify the mass and all the ions. That way it will give a better understanding of the space weather aspect and the solar events,” in accordance with Shaji, who mentioned the Aditya-L1 mission price round Rs 600 crore.

The European Space Agency (ESA) whose joint operation with NASA led to the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory attain L1 in 1995 posted on X, “Lagrange point 1 is a tricky place to fly spacecraft: Getting there requires a complex transfer manoeuvre, and staying there requires regular manoeuvres to maintain the halo orbit.”

To perform the exact manoeuvres wanted to deal with an L1 mission, operators must know the precise location of their spacecraft, now and sooner or later, ESA mentioned. They work this out by way of a mathematical course of referred to as ‘orbit determination’, the house company mentioned. Isro has developed new ‘orbit determination’ software program for Aditya L1, it mentioned. But the room for error when working a spacecraft at L1 may be very small. So, the Aditya-L1 group labored with ESA to ensure the software program may deal with the challenges they could face throughout the mission, it added.