Indian spacecraft reaches orbit to uncover ‘solar secrets’

India’s first mission to observe the Sun from space crossed a major milestone on Saturday.

The Aditya L-1 spacecraft reached its destination within 10th of the distance between Earth and our nearest star (the Sun).

A post on X from the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Aditya L1 account said, ‘I have safely reached the Lagrange Point L1, 1.5 lakh kilometers from our planet. Happy to be far away but in close touch to know the mysteries of the sun.’

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the spacecraft successfully entered a halo orbit around the Lagrange Point One (L1) between the Sun and Earth at 4 pm Indian time (10:30 am GT) on Saturday.

In El One, the spacecraft will be able to maintain its position relative to the Sun and Earth without expending energy. It will be perfectly balanced between the gravitational fields of the two planets.

Modi said in his ex-post that ‘India has crossed another milestone. India’s first solar observatory, Aditya L One, has reached its destination.

He further said, ‘This is a testament to the tireless dedication of our scientists who have made one of the most complex space missions a reality. I stand with the nation in appreciating this extraordinary achievement.’

The Aditya-L-1 spacecraft was launched on September 2 from India’s central space station, Sriharikota, from where ISRO had made history by landing a spacecraft on the South Pole of the Moon a few days earlier.

From El One, about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, the spacecraft will be able to continuously observe the Sun, including studying the solar wind and other conditions on its surface.

ISRO plans to place the spacecraft in orbit at the L1 point. It will only need to be moved occasionally to keep it in place.

The spacecraft carries seven scientific instruments, developed by ISRO and several Indian research institutes including the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru and the Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune.

Using data from these instruments, scientists will study the various layers of the Sun, including its photosphere, chromosphere and outermost corona. This process will provide information about the effects of solar radiation on the orbiting planets.

Previous research has shown that energetic particles emitted from the Sun in the form of solar storms can collide with planets orbiting Earth, sometimes causing communications blackouts. .

Since different types of radiation do not reach the Earth’s surface, this radiation cannot be easily studied with instruments on its surface.

However, such studies can be carried out in space using planets far from Earth’s atmosphere.

So far, ISRO has checked the condition of the instruments on board the Aditya L-1 spacecraft several times and found them to be working perfectly.

The success of the Indian space mission on Saturday came a year after several successful ISRO missions, including the launch of the country’s first special probe to study black holes.

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