India has launched its first observatory mission to the Sun. Aditya-L1 which is named after an Hindu god of the Sun, Surya, took off from the launch pad at 11:50 Indian time on Saturday 2nd August 2023, to travel to L1, the first Lagrangian Point. The first Lagrangian point was discovered by Joseph Louis Lagrange, a Mathematician.
According to the European Space Agency, Lagrangian 1 “lies 1.5 million kilometres inside the Earth’s orbit, partway between the Sun and the Earth. Lagrangian points are where all the gravitational forces acting between two objects cancel each other out and therefore can be used by spacecraft to hover”
Aditya-L1’s journey through the distance of 1.5 million kilometres is anticipated to take about 4 months, India’s space agency says.
After arrival at L1, the orbiter is expected to orbit the Sun just as the Earth.
This is India’s first mission to the Sun coming days after the country made history by being the first country to land near the south pole of the moon. Chandrayaan-3 landed at a spot near the south pole on the 23rd August, 2023.
According to India’s Space Research Organization (ISRO), the space orbiter has scientific equipment that will aid the study of the Sun from a vantage position, and is expected to deepen the understanding of the sun as well as its role in the earth.
If this mission succeeds, India will join a pocket of other countries to investigate the Sun.
ASVEK Science & Tech 