Aditya-L1 Spacecraft Departs Earth's Sphere of Influence, Heads Towards Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1
ISRO said this was the second time, after the Mars Orbiter Mission, for India to send a spacecraft outside the sphere of Earth's influence
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) reported on September 30 that the Aditya-L1 spacecraft successfully departed Earth's sphere of influence and will from now on be navigating its path towards the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 (L1).
Sharing the same on Twitter, ISRO stated, "The spacecraft has travelled beyond a distance of 9.2 lakh kilometres from Earth, successfully escaping the sphere of Earth's influence. It is now navigating its path towards the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 (L1)."
ISRO also said that this marks second time in a row that the space agency has managed to send a spacecraft beyond the sphere of Earth's influence, with the first instance being the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan).
The launch of PSLV-C57 rocket carrying the Aditya-L1 orbiter took place on September 2 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. This launch of maiden solar mission came weeks after ISRO's historic lunar landing mission, Chandrayaan-3.
Aditya-L1 mission will reach its observation point in four months according to ISRO. According to the agency, it will be positioned in a halo orbit around Lagrangian Point 1 (or L1) that is located 1.5 million kilometres from Earth in the direction of the Sun.
The spacecraft is equipped with seven different payloads designed to carry out a study of the Sun. Four of these payloads will observe the light from the sun, while the remaining three will measure in-situ parameters of the plasma and magnetic fields.
The primary objectives of India's solar mission encompass the study of the physics of solar corona and its heating mechanisms, solar wind acceleration, coupling and dynamics of the solar atmosphere, solar wind distribution and temperature anisotropy and origin of Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) and solar flares along with their impact on near-Earth space weather.
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