What Does Aditya-L1 Do & Which Rocket Will Carry It? Check Most Asked Questions On India's Solar Mission

The stage is set for the launch of India's first solar mission Aditya-L1 which will take off on September 2 at 11.50 am from the Sriharikota spaceport.

This comes at a time when the whole country is celebrating the success of India's moon mission Chandrayaan-3.

So, What Does Aditya-L1 Do and Which Rocket Will Carry It? Here are some most-asked questions about the solar mission on the Google search engine.

Aditya-L1 stands as India's inaugural solar mission with the purpose of studying the Sun from space. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has outlined its intention to position the spacecraft in a halo orbit encircling Lagrangian point 1 (L1) within the Sun-Earth system, a distance of approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.

"A satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/eclipse. This will provide a greater advantage of observing the solar activities continuously.

The spacecraft will carry seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere, and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic and particle detectors. Using the special vantage point of L1, four payloads will directly view the Sun and the remaining three payloads will carry out in-situ studies of particles and fields at the Lagrange point L1," a statement from the ISRO states.

The suit of Aditya L1 payloads are expected to provide most crucial information to understand the problems of coronal heating, Coronal Mass Ejection, pre-flare and flare activities, and their characteristics, dynamics of space weather, study of the propagation of particles, fields in the interplanetary medium, etc.

Which rocket will carry Aditya-L1?
The Aditya-L1 mission will be launched by ISRO's PSLV XL rocket.

Initially, the spacecraft will be placed in a Low Earth Orbit. Subsequently, the orbit will be made more elliptical and later the spacecraft will be launched towards the Lagrange point (L1) by using onboard propulsion. As the spacecraft travels towards L1, it will exit the Earths' gravitational Sphere of Influence (SOI). After exit from SOI, the cruise phase will start and subsequently, the spacecraft will be injected into a large halo orbit around L1.

How much time will Aditya-L1 take to reach the Sun?
The total travel time from launch to L1 would take about four months for Aditya-L1.

The Objectives of Aditya-L1 mission:

This research focuses on comprehensively investigating various aspects of the Sun's upper atmosphere, specifically the chromosphere and corona. It delves into the dynamics and heating processes of these regions, including the physics of partially ionized plasma, the triggers for coronal mass ejections and solar flares, and the intricacies of coronal and coronal loop plasma such as temperature, velocity, and density. Furthermore, the study encompasses in-situ observations of solar particles and plasma, shedding light on their dynamics.

Additionally, it seeks to unravel the mysteries surrounding the heating mechanisms of the solar corona, the development and dynamics of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and the sequence of events leading to solar eruptive events. The research also involves the examination of magnetic field topology and measurements within the solar corona, contributing to our understanding of the origin, composition, and dynamics of solar wind, which plays a crucial role in driving space weather.