ISRO Aditya-L1’ Archives - Lokmarg

ISRO’s Aditya- L1, Launched Successfully From Sriharikota

By LokMarg 2nd September 2023

The PSLV-C57.1 rocket carrying the Aditya-L1 orbiter, lifted off successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh at 11.50 am on Saturday.

The successful launch of the maiden solar mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) came on the heels of the historic lunar landing mission — Chandrayaan-3.

The ISRO successfully placed a lander on the unexplored lunar South Pole, a feat that put India in the record books as the first country to do so.

According to the agency, the Aditya-L1 mission is expected to reach the observation point in four months.

It will be placed in a halo orbit around Lagrangian Point 1 (or L1), which is 1.5 million km away from the Earth in the direction of the sun.

It will carry seven different payloads to have a detailed study of the sun, four of which will observe the light from the sun and the other three will measure in-situ parameters of the plasma and magnetic fields.

The largest and technically most challenging payload on Aditya-L1 is the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph or VELC.

VELC was integrated, tested, and calibrated at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics’ CREST (Centre for Research and Education in Science Technology) campus in Hosakote in collaboration with ISRO.

This strategic location will enable Aditya-L1 to continuously observe the sun without being hindered by eclipses or occultation, allowing scientists to study solar activities and their impact on space weather in real time. Also, the spacecraft’s data will help identify the sequence of processes that lead to solar eruptive events and contribute to a deeper understanding of space weather drivers.

Major objectives of India’s solar mission include the study of the physics of solar corona and its heating mechanism, the solar wind acceleration, coupling and dynamics of the solar atmosphere, solar wind distribution and temperature anisotropy, and origin of Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) and flares and near-earth space weather.

According to the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics, the atmosphere of the sun, the corona, is what is seen during a total solar eclipse. A coronagraph like the VELC is an instrument that cuts out the light from the disk of the sun, and can thus image the much fainter corona at all times,

Earlier, on August 23, India became the fourth country after the US, China, and Russia to have successfully placed a lander on the moon’s surface.

After the historic touchdown, the ‘Vikram’ lander and the ‘Pragyan’ rover performed different set tasks on the lunar surface, including finding the presence of sulphur and recording relative temperature.

The stated objectives of Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar mission, were a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, the rover moving on the moon’s surface, and in-situ scientific experiments.

Chandrayaan-3 is the ISRO’s follow-up attempt after the Chandrayaan-2 mission faced challenges during its soft landing on the lunar surface in 2019 and was eventually deemed to have failed its core mission objectives. (ANI)

Aditya-L1 Will Take 125 Days To Reach: ISRO Chief

By LokMarg 1st September 2023

As the countdown for India’s maiden solar mission Aditya-L1 began on Friday, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S Somanath said that it is an important launch and the satellite will take 125 days to reach the L1 point.

Somanath offered prayers at Chengalamma Parameshwari Temple in Tirupati district, ahead of the launch of Aditya-L1 Mission, India’s first solar mission, on September 2 at 11.50 am from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh.

“Today the countdown of Aditya L1 is starting and it will launch tomorrow around 11.50 am. Aditya L1 satellite is for studying our Sun. It will take another 125 days to reach the L1 point. This is a very important launch. We have not yet decided (Chandrayaan-4), but we will announce it soon. After Aditya L1, our next launch is Gaganyaan, it will take place by the first week of October,” Somanath said while talking to the reporters.

Aditya-L1 is India’s first solar space observatory and will be launched by the PSLV-C57. It will carry seven different payloads to have a detailed study of the sun, four of which will observe the light from the sun and the other three will measure in-situ parameters of the plasma and magnetic fields.

The largest and technically most challenging payload on Aditya-L1 is the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph or VELC. VELC was integrated, tested, and calibrated at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics’ CREST (Centre for Research and Education in Science Technology) campus in Hosakote in collaboration with ISRO.

Aditya-L1 will be placed in a halo orbit around Lagrangian Point 1 (or L1), which is 1.5 million km away from the Earth in the direction of the sun. It is expected to cover the distance in four months’ time.

The atmosphere of the sun, the corona, is what we see during a total solar eclipse. A coronagraph like the VELC is an instrument that cuts out the light from the disk of the sun, and can thus image the much fainter corona at all times, the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics said. (ANI)

All Rehearsal Completed For The Launch: ISRO chief On Aditya-L1 Mission

By LokMarg 31st August 2023

After the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon, India is gearing up for its Sun mission ‘Aditya-L1’. Indian Space Research Organisation chief S Somnath has said that the ISRO team has completed rehearsal for the launch.

Speaking to the media, ISRO Chief said, “We are just getting ready for the launch. The rocket and satellite are ready, we have completed the rehearsal for the launch. Tomorrow we have to start the countdown for the launch, the day after tomorrow.”

Aditya-L1 would be the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun.

Earlier on August 14, ISRO informed about mission Aditya-L1, the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun and said that it is getting ready for the launch.

“PSLV-C57/Aditya-L1 Mission: Aditya-L1, the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun, is getting ready for the launch. The satellite realised at the U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Bengaluru has arrived at SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota,” ISRO said in a post on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter).

According to an ISRO statement, the Aditya L1 spacecraft carries seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic particle and magnetic field detectors. Using the special vantage point L1, four payloads directly view the Sun and the remaining three payloads carry out in-situ studies of particles and fields at the Lagrange point L1, thus providing important scientific studies of the propagatory effect of solar dynamics in the interplanetary medium.

The suits of Aditya L1 payloads are expected to provide the most crucial information to understand the problem of coronal heating, coronal mass ejection, pre-flare and flare activities and their characteristics, dynamics of space weather, propagation of particles and fields, the statement said. (ANI)