ISRO’s Aditya L1 successfully performs the third earthing maneuver

“The next maneuver (EBN#4) is scheduled for September 15, 2023, around 2:00 am. IST,” ISRO said.

Earlier, the second Earth-bound maneuver was successfully performed on September 5, reaching an orbit of 282 km x 40,225 km, while the first was performed on September 3.

What does Aditya L1’s orbit-raising maneuver mean?

An orbital maneuver, also called a burn, is a standard protocol during a space flight. During this exercise, the orbit of the satellite or spacecraft is extended by using propulsion systems. This process involves firing rockets and also adjusting the angles. To understand the process, let’s take the example of a person on a swing. To make the swing go higher, pressure is applied as the swing approaches the ground. Similarly, once Aditya L1 gains sufficient speed, it will swing around to the intended path towards L1.

Meanwhile, after the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 near the moon’s south pole, ISRO had launched the country’s first solar mission – Aditya-L1 from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota on September 2.

It carried seven different payloads to conduct a detailed study of the Sun, four of which will observe the Sun’s light and the other three will measure in-situ parameters of the plasma and magnetic field.

Aditya-L1 will be placed in a halo orbit around Lagrangian point 1 (or L1), which is located 1.5 million km away from Earth towards the Sun. The distance is expected to be covered in four months. It will remain about 1.5 million km from Earth, facing the Sun, which is about 1 percent of the Earth-Sun distance. The Sun is a giant ball of gas and Aditya-L1 would study the Sun’s outer atmosphere.

ISRO said Aditya-L1 will neither land on the Sun nor come closer to the Sun.

This strategic location will allow Aditya-L1 to continuously observe the Sun without being hampered by eclipses or occultation, allowing scientists to study solar activities and their impact on space weather in real time. Also, the spacecraft data will help identify the sequence of processes that lead to solar eruptions, and contribute to a deeper understanding of the factors that influence space weather.

The main objectives of India’s solar mission include the study of the physics of the solar corona and its heating mechanism, the acceleration of the solar wind, the coupling and dynamics of the solar atmosphere, the distribution of solar wind and temperature anisotropy, and the origin of Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) and flares and near-Earth space weather.

Aditya-L1 is a satellite dedicated to the comprehensive study of the Sun, which will discover the unknown facts about the Sun. The satellite will travel in orbits around the Earth for 16 days, during which it will undergo five maneuvers to reach the required speed to reach its destination.

Next, Adiya-L1 will undergo a trans-Lagrangian1 insertion maneuver that will last 110 days. The satellite will travel approximately 15 million kilometers to reach the L1 point. Upon arrival at the L1 point, another maneuver will tie Aditya-L1 into orbit around L1, a balanced gravity location between Earth and the Sun, according to information shared on ISRO’s official website.

(With inputs from ANI)

Updated: Sep 10, 2023 06:14 IST