India's space agency, ISRO, has successfully accomplished its inaugural solar mission, Aditya-L1, reaching its destination at Lagrange Point 1 within the anticipated four-month timeframe, according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Launched on September 2, the spacecraft will focus on studying the Sun's corona and its impact on space weather. Modi praised the achievement on social media, highlighting the dedication of Indian scientists. The satellite covered approximately 1.5 million km in four months, benefitting from the gravitational forces at Lagrange Point 1, which reduced fuel consumption. Aditya-L1, equipped with seven payloads, will conduct remote sensing and in-situ observations of the Sun for an estimated five years.
Named after the Hindi word for the Sun, this mission follows ISRO's successful Chandrayaan-3 mission, landing on the Moon's south pole. The Aditya-L1 mission aims to understand the impact of solar radiation on satellites in orbit, particularly focusing on ventures like Elon Musk's Starlink communications network. Manish Purohit, a former ISRO scientist, emphasized the importance of studying the Sun for its control over space weather, especially as low earth orbit is expected to become increasingly crowded. The spacecraft at Lagrange Point 1 serves as an early warning system for solar storms, providing about an hour's advantage. ISRO has a series of upcoming projects, including its first human space mission and the joint NASA-ISRO low-Earth orbit observatory system, NISAR, which will map the entire planet every 12 days, offering crucial data for understanding various Earth phenomena.
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