India completed the Chandrayaan 3 mission this week, successfully landing on the Moon’s south pole. After this development, which attracted the attention of the whole world, India shared data on the south pole of the Moon. Now they are focused on another mission. India is preparing to launch its first Sun mission after the Moon. Here are the details…
What will India’s solar mission be like?
The Aditya-L1 mission will launch on September 2 at 02:20 local time on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Center. Aditya (meaning the Hindu sun god), India’s first mission to study the Sun, will observe solar activities to better understand space weather and how it affects Earth.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will place the spacecraft at Earth-Sun Lagrange Point 1, a gravitationally stable point located about 1 million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away.
According to ISRO, “A satellite placed in halo orbit around point L1 has the advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation.” Aditya-L1 carries seven scientific equipment on board; four of them will aim directly at the Sun. The remaining three will be used to measure particles at Lagrange Point 1 to study the effects of solar dynamics in the interplanetary medium (or space).
ISRO has been in the eyes of the world since landing its first mission to the Moon. Chandrayaan-3, India’s second attempt to land on the lunar surface, made a soft landing on August 23. The mission has added India to its shortlist of countries that have achieved the arduous feat of landing on the Moon. This list includes the Soviet Union, the United States, and China. It also became the first lander to land on the Moon’s south pole.
India is making progress with its growing space program and has recently signed the Artemis Agreement, which aims to establish a habitat on the Moon and further cooperation for the ongoing lunar program. ISRO is also said to have preliminary plans to launch a mission to Mars and Venus.
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