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Sun Mission: ISRO on path of making history with Aditya to reach L1 point tomorrow

by Trans World Features | @twfindia 05 Jan 2024, 09:16 am

Chennai: D-day beckons the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which is all set to create history on Saturday when its first solar exploratory mission spacecraft Aditya-L1 will reach the halo Lagrange-L1 point.

Completing a four-month-long voyage and traversing 1.5 million km, it will reach the L1 point Saturday evening, thereby making India the first country in the world to achieve the feat of studying the outer atmosphere of the Sun.

Scientists at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) will fire the LAM motors on board the spacecraft to take it to the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point L1 in a halo orbit.

As the spacecraft travelled towards L1, it exited the Earths’ gravitational Sphere of Influence (SOI). After its exit from SOI, the cruise phase started and subsequently, the spacecraft would be injected into a large halo orbit around L1.

The total travel time from launch to L1 takes about four months for Aditya-L1.

Upon arrival at the L1 point, another manoeuvre binds Aditya-L1 to an orbit around L1, a balanced gravitational location between the Earth and the Sun.

This will be the second major achievement for the Indian Space Agency after its third Lunar Mission Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the Moon's South Polar region, an hitherto unexplored area.