- Days after India’s lunar exploration success, the country is now heading for the sun.
- According to the Indian Space Research Organization, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft is scheduled to launch on September 2 to study the sun’s effects on the sun and space weather.
Sunset over Holland.
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Days after India’s successful lunar exploration, the country is now setting its sights on the sun.
According to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the Aditya-L1 spacecraft is scheduled to launch from Sriharikota spaceport on September 2 to study its effects on the sun and space weather.
Aditya, which means Sun in Hindi, is placed in a halo orbit around Lagrangian point 1 of the Sun-Earth system, where the Sun can be observed without obstruction. ISRO report said.
A Lagrangian point is a location in space where the gravitational pull of two large masses creates a “region of enhanced attraction and repulsion”. According to NASA. The resulting force can be used to stay in place, reduce fuel consumption, and can be compared to a spacecraft ‘parking spot’.
The launch will be India’s first space observatory to study the Sun and will offer “the great advantage of continuous observation of the Sun without occultation or eclipse,” the ISRO report said.
The mission will also enable the study of the solar wind. chaos on earthsuch as disruption of communications or navigation systems.
The Indian government budgeted $46 million for the mission in 2019, but has not released an update since.
On Wednesday, India became the fourth country to land on the moon with a relatively low starting budget of $75 million.
In India’s first attempt, other countries have also successfully set up orbiting satellites to study the sun. NASA’s parker solar probe In 2021, it will be sent to the sun’s corona to collect particle and magnetic field samples, as well as the European Space Agency’s solar orbiter Released in the previous year.