ISRO scientist explains uniqueness of Aditya L1 mission: 'Payloads not only...'
Indian mission Aditya-L1 to study the Sun over the next five years, with launch scheduled for September 2.
India is gearing up to embark on a groundbreaking scientific endeavour as the Aditya-L1 mission prepares to undertake a journey of 1.5 million kilometers to study the Sun. The mission, a collaboration between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and various esteemed institutions, is poised to unlock new insights into our closest star over the next five years.
Raghunandan Kumar, Director at the Planetary Society, speaking on the mission's ambitious scope, said, "Aditya-L1 mission is going to undertake a 15-lakh kilometre long journey. After reaching a point, with the help of the 7 instruments, our country is going to study about the Sun over a period of the next 5 years."
Slated for launch on September 2, the Aditya L1 (Aditya is a name for the sun in the Hindi language) is the first Indian space mission to study the sun. The spacecraft will be placed in an orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system where the gravitational effects of both bodies cancel each other out. The mission aims to observe solar activities and their effects on space weather in real time.
Crucial to the mission's success are the meticulously designed instruments that will capture crucial data and images of the Sun. The Indian Institute of Astrophysics played a pivotal role by crafting the main payload.
Nilesh Desai, Director of the Space Applications Centre (SAC/ISRO) in Ahmedabad, highlighted this collaboration, saying, "These payloads were not only prepared by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, who have made the main payload, but other smaller institutes were roped in to deliver six other payloads. This is the uniqueness of this particular mission."
The Aditya-L1 mission is expected to take four months to reach its designated point in space where it will begin its comprehensive study of the Sun. The instruments on board will provide an array of data, including information on the Sun's magnetic field, its outermost layer, the corona, and its emissions.
(With PTI inputs)
