Tick-Tock Tick-Tock: Countdown Started For India's Maiden Solar Mission ( image from isroindiaofficial @instagram)
After the exuberant succes of mission lunar, Indian Space Research Organisation is gearing up for mission solar. “The 23-hour 40-minutes countdown leading to the launch at 11:50 Hrs,september 2023 has commenced,” said ISRO on X (former name Twitter).
The launching of PSLV-C57/Aditya L1 will be from Satish Dhawan Space Center in sriharikota, Andhra Pradhesh. This will be the 59th flight of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle ( PSLV).
The PSLV-C57/Aditya-L1 mission is India”s maiden mission to Sun. Aditya L1 will observe solar corona and in-situ observations of solar wind at Sun – Earth Langragian point 1 (L1 point) which is 1.5 million kilometers away from the Earth.
ISRO claims that PSLV-C57/Aditya-L1 carries 7 payloads for having a detailed exploration of Sun.To observe photosphere, chromosphere and outer most layer of the Sun using electro magnetic particle and magnetic detectors. Four of the payloads will observe the light from the Sun while the other three will measure the in-situ paremeters of the plasma magnetic fields.
According to ISRO, Aditya L1 payloads are expected to provide nuance and crucial informations on problems of coronal heating, coronal mass ejection, pre-flare, flare activities and their characteristics, dynamics of space weather and propogation of particles and fields.
Aditya L1 is expected to reach L1 point in four months. This location will allow Aditya L1 to continuously observer the sun without being hindered by occultaion/eclipses enabling scientists to study solar activities and their impact on space weather in real time.
