Bengaluru, September 5th – The Aditya L1 mission, India’s pioneering space-based endeavor to explore the Sun, marked a significant achievement with the successful completion of its second Earth-bound maneuver. This milestone was accomplished during the early hours of Tuesday under the expert guidance of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and its Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network (ISTRAC).
“The second Earth-bound maneuver (EBN#2) was executed flawlessly by ISTRAC in Bengaluru. ISRO’s ground stations at Mauritius, Bengaluru, and Port Blair closely tracked the satellite’s progress during this operation, resulting in a new orbit at 282 km x 40225 km,” reported ISRO in a statement shared via X (formerly Twitter).
The next maneuver in line, EBN#3, is scheduled for September 10, 2023, around 02:30 Hrs. IST, ISRO disclosed.
Aditya-L1 distinguishes itself as India’s premier space-based observatory, assigned the task of studying the Sun from a specialized halo orbit situated at the first Sun-Earth Lagrangian point (L1), approximately 1.5 million km from Earth.
The successful execution of the first Earth-bound maneuver took place on September 3, setting the stage for two more orbital maneuvers before the spacecraft is directed towards the Lagrange point L1. Aditya-L1 is anticipated to reach its designated orbit at the L1 point after approximately 127 days.
On September 2, ISRO achieved a major milestone with the launch of the Aditya-L1 spacecraft aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C57) from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. Following a 63-minute and 20-second flight, Aditya-L1 was successfully positioned into an elliptical orbit measuring 235×19500 km around Earth.
ISRO emphasized that the unique placement of a satellite in the halo orbit around the L1 point offers the unparalleled advantage of continuous solar observation without interruptions or eclipses. This real-time monitoring capability will significantly enhance our understanding of solar activities and their impact on space weather.
Aditya-L1 carries seven scientific payloads developed indigenously by ISRO in collaboration with national research laboratories, including the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) in Bengaluru and the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune. These payloads are designed to study the photosphere, chromosphere, and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic, particle, and magnetic field detectors.
From its vantage point at L1, four of these payloads provide direct observations of the Sun, while the remaining three conduct in-situ studies of particles and fields at the Lagrange point L1, offering valuable insights into solar dynamics in the interplanetary medium.
Scientists expect that the data collected by Aditya L1’s payloads will shed light on critical aspects of solar physics, including the mystery of coronal heating, coronal mass ejections, pre-flare and flare activities, space weather dynamics, and the propagation of particles and fields.
In the realm of celestial mechanics, there exist five Lagrangian points, or “parking areas,” between Earth and the Sun where objects can remain with minimal fuel consumption. These points are named in honor of the Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange, renowned for his groundbreaking work in celestial mechanics.
Lagrangian points are strategically utilized by spacecraft for their fuel-efficient characteristics. These points occur where the gravitational pull of two large bodies, in this case, the Sun and the Earth, precisely balances the centripetal force required for a small object to remain in synchronous motion with them.
