ISRO’s Aditya L1 spacecraft, India’s first space-based mission to study the Sun, successfully underwent its fourth Earth-bound manoeuvre on September 15, 2023.
The spacecraft is currently on a 16-day journey around the Earth, during which it is gaining the necessary velocity for its further journey to L1.
The next manoeuvre, Trans-Lagrangean Point 1 Insertion (TL1I), is scheduled for September 19, 2023. This manoeuvre will mark the beginning of Aditya L1’s nearly 110-day trajectory to the L1 Lagrange point, a balanced gravitational location between the Earth and the Sun.
Upon arrival at L1, Aditya L1 will be placed in a halo orbit, which will allow it to continuously view the Sun without any occultation or eclipses. This will provide a greater advantage in observing solar activities and their effect on space weather in real-time.
Aditya L1 carries seven scientific payloads indigenously developed by ISRO and national research laboratories. These payloads will observe the photosphere, chromosphere and corona of the Sun, as well as the local environment at L1.
The mission is expected to provide crucial information to understand the problems of coronal heating, coronal mass ejection, pre-flare and flare activities, dynamics of space weather, and propagation of particles and fields.
What are Lagrangian points?
Lagrangian points are regions in space where the gravitational pull of two large bodies (such as the Sun and the Earth) equals the necessary centripetal force required for a small object to move with them.
There are five Lagrangian points between the Earth and the Sun. L1 is the closest to the Sun, and L5 is the farthest.
L1 is a popular location for spacecraft because it allows them to continuously view the Sun without any occultation or eclipses. This is ideal for solar observatories such as Aditya L1.
