L1, or Lagrange 1 level, is likely one of the 5 places within the Earth-Sun system the place the gravitational results of the Earth and the Sun, as additionally the centripetal drive on any satellite tv for pc positioned there, roughly cancel one another out. It is a comparatively secure level for a spacecraft to be parked, and observe the Sun. The L1 level is about 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth. This is simply 1 per cent of the full distance between the Earth and Sun.

Placing the Aditya spacecraft within the ‘halo’ orbit round L1 level was not so simple as placing a satellite tv for pc in an orbit round Earth, or some other planetary physique just like the Moon or Mars, which ISRO and different house companies routinely do.

“Usually, satellites are put into orbits around physical bodies like Earth, Moon, Mars etc. In this case, at L1, there’s no physical object. It is an empty space, just a location. Besides, closed orbits around celestial bodies are either circular or elliptical. The orbit around L1 is more complex. It is almost perpendicular to the line joining the Earth and the Sun. As such, the insertion into this orbit required a very challenging manoeuvre. Even after the insertion, ISRO would need to carry out correction manoeuvres periodically to remain in the orbit,” A N Ramaprakash, a senior professor at Pune-based Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) who has labored on one of many foremost payloads on-board Aditya mission, stated.

The success of Saturday’s manoeuvre was made public by Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Prasad, which prompted a congratulatory message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is thought to take a eager curiosity in India’s house actions.

“India creates yet another landmark. India’s first solar observatory Aditya-L1 reaches its destination. It is a testament to the relentless dedication of our scientists in realising among the most complex and intricate space missions,” Modi wrote on his ‘X’ deal with.

“I join the nation in applauding this extraordinary feat. We will continue to pursue new frontiers of science for the benefit of humanity,” Modi stated.

ISRO is just the third house company, after NASA and the European Space Agency, to station a spacecraft on the L1 level to review the Sun.

The entry into the orbit occurred 127 days after the launch of Aditya-L1 on September 2 final 12 months, inside days of Chandrayan-3 making the historic moon touchdown.

“This insertion into the halo orbit at L1 is something that ISRO has never done before,” Aditya-L1 mission director Nigar Shaji had instructed The Indian Express earlier.

The four-month journey to its vacation spot was additionally the second longest that an Indian spacecraft had travelled in house to achieve its vacation spot. The Mars Orbiter Mission had travelled about 11 months earlier than getting into the orbit across the crimson planet.

“It (the insertion) was something similar to a car speeding on the highway and then making a manoeuvre to enter into a side lane. A change of speed and direction was involved. It was great that ISRO managed to do it in the first attempt itself. If not, more attempts could have been made, but that would have involved spending more fuel. The challenge is to enter into the orbit with minimal manoeuvring and firing of thrusters,” Professor Dibyendu Nandi of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research at Kolkata stated.

The spacecraft is carrying seven payloads, a lot of which had been switched on for a while throughout its journey to the L1 level.

“Initial data show that they are all working as per expectations. Some of the payloads have already started detecting and monitoring activities on the Sun like solar flares. The most spectacular one has been the so-called New Year fireworks on the Sun, a flare that happened on the solar limb on December 31,” Prof Ramaprakash, one of many lead builders of the SUIT (Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope) payload, stated.

After the insertion, the payloads could be switched on sequentially. SUIT, seated on the highest deck of the Aditya-L1, might be among the many first to get operational as soon as the spacecraft reaches L1.

“All the instruments will be checked for their health and calibration performed. Since these instruments are highly complex, the commencement of actual science observations may take another three months or so,” Dipankar Banerjee, director of Nainital-based Aryabhata Research Institute of Observational Sciences, stated.

Banerjee stated a few of the observations being carried out by Aditya have by no means been made earlier than.

“The combination of instruments, onboard Aditya, are going to be operational for the first time ever at L1. No similar instruments have been present during previous missions (by other space agencies). Aditya has unique and different instruments with better capabilities… Aditya’s coronagraph has the ability to look very close to the Sun. It has an X-ray spectrometer. In addition, there are instruments capable of performing multi-slit spectroscopy, spectro-polarimetry and taking full-disc near ultraviolet images. All of these are new elements on a solar mission,” he stated.

Aditya has seven scientific payloads of which the Visible Emission Line Coronograph (VELC), Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT), Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS), High-energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS) are designed to straight observe the Sun. The in-situ (on web site) measuring devices embody the Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX), Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA), Advanced Tri-axial High Resolution Digital Magnetometers.

* Anjali Marar works with the Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru.

Next step: Gaganyaan

THE SUCCESS of Aditya-L1 mission reinforces ISRO’s evolution into an area company totally dedicated to scientific and planetary exploration. ISRO has now despatched missions to the Moon, Mars and Sun. A mission to Venus is already within the works, and so are follow-up missions to the Moon and Mars. The solely functionality nonetheless remaining to be demonstrated is a human spaceflight mission which is slated to be achieved with the Gaganyaan mission subsequent 12 months.