ISRO has reached another milestone with the successful completion of its maiden earth-bound maneuver by the
Aditya-L1 spacecraft, which was launched on September 2. Aditya-L1 is proving to be a huge success for India in the realm of space exploration, alongside Chandrayaan-3. According to
ISRO on the X platform, the Aditya-L1 has successfully completed the first ISTRAC Earth-bound maneuver. The ISRO further stated that the satellite is in good health and operating normally.The mission's next maneuver is anticipated on September 5, 2023, about 03:00 Hrs. IST.
Aditya-L1, India's ambitious solar mission, took off from Sriharikota with the primary purpose of investigating our Sun's outer atmosphere. The spacecraft is outfitted with seven unique payloads, four of which will detect solar light and the other three will monitor in-situ plasma and magnetic field characteristics.
The location of Aditya-L1 is one of the mission's distinguishing features. It will be positioned in a halo orbit around Lagrangian Point 1 (L1), which is about 1.5 million kilometers distant from Earth and facing the Sun. Aditya-L1 will be able to view the Sun constantly without being impacted by eclipses or occultation events, offering scientists with real-time data to research solar activity and their influence on space weather.
The principal goals of India's solar mission are to learn more about the physics of the solar corona, understand the mechanisms that cause it to heat up, analyze solar wind acceleration, and investigate the dynamics of the solar atmosphere. The mission will also investigate solar wind dispersion, temperature anisotropy, the genesis of Coronal Mass Ejections (CME), flares, and their influence on near-Earth space weather.
ISRO's constant accomplishments in space exploration demonstrate India's rising proficiency in space and technology. The world awaits the discovery of different secrets about the Sun as Aditya-L1 continues its voyage towards the Sun.