Early on Tuesday, the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) announced that Aditya L1, the nation’s first solar mission, has completed the second Earth-bound maneuver successfully.
The operation was carried out by the Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) of the space agency.
“The second Earth-bound manoeuvre (EBN#2) is performed successfully from ISTRAC, Bengaluru. ISTRAC/Isro’s ground stations at Mauritius, Bengaluru and Port Blair tracked the satellite during this operation. The new orbit attained is 282 kilometres x 40,225 km,” Isro shared the update on X.
According to Isro, the following maneuver is planned for September 10 at 2:30 am.
The first Earth-bound maneuver of Aditya L1 was accomplished on September 3.
Before entering the transfer orbit toward the Lagrange point L1 of the Sun-Earth system, which is around 1.5 million kilometers from the Earth, the spacecraft will do two additional earthbound orbital movements. This position is perfect for solar observation because it offers an uninterrupted and clear view of the Sun.
Aditya L1 is expected to arrive at the intended orbit at the L1 point after about 127 days.
Aditya L1 was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on September 2. The spacecraft, weighing 1,472 kg, was carried into space by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in ‘XL’ configuration, ISRO’s most reliable and versatile workhorse rocket.
Studying the Sun’s higher atmospheric layers, specifically the chromosphere and corona, is the main goal of the Aditya L1 mission. Additionally, the mission will look at coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are significant discharges of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun’s corona, and analyze the corona’s magnetic field, which controls space weather.
Aditya L1 carries seven payloads, including the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VLEC) to study the solar corona, the Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) to capture the UV image of the solar photosphere and chromosphere, and the Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS) and High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS) to analyse X-ray flares.
