Aditya L1 Racing Past The Influence Of Earth's Sphere And Nearing To L1 Point: ISRO

India”s maiden solar mission, Aditya L1 is racing past the Earth”s sphere to the Lagrange point. Passing 9.2 lakh kilometres, it has now escaped Earth”s sphere and is nearing towards the Earth-Sun Lagrange point 1, says Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Taking to X (formerly twitter), ISRO has announced the departing of Aditya L1 from Earth”s sphere. “The spacecraft has travelled beyond the distance of 9.2 lakh kilometres from Earth, successfully escaping the sphere of Earth”s influence. It is now navigating its path towards the Sun-Earth Lagrange point 1 (L1)”, read the post. It is also added that, “This is the second time in succession that ISRO could send a spacecraft outside the sphere of influence of the Earth, the first time being the Mars Orbiter Mission”.

Aditya-L1 Mission:

🔸The spacecraft has travelled beyond a distance of 9.2 lakh kilometres from Earth, successfully escaping the sphere of Earth's influence. It is now navigating its path towards the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 (L1).

🔸This is the second time in succession that…

— ISRO (@isro) September 30, 2023

ISRO launched Aditya L1 on September 2, marking India”s first solar mission to study the happenings around the Sun. The spacecraft will study the outer layer of Sun from the Lagrange point which is approximately 1.5 million km or 0.01 au away from  the Earth. The L1 point offers a protective shield from the Sun”s radiation and gives an uninterrupted view of the Sun, making it a perfect place for the solar observatories. Before Aditya L1, China”s Chang”e-5 and European Space Agency (ESA) and US”s National Aeronautics and Space Administration”s (NASA) joint mission SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) has reached the L1 point.

Aditya L1 carries seven payload, largest of which is Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) and is designed to collect datas by observing Solar Corona. Aditya L1 is expected to reach at the Lagrange point within four months from the date of its launch. It is designed for a nominal five year mission but expected to serve longer like SOHO which was designed for nominal 3 years but continued to provide data after more than 20 years.