ISRO: Aditya L1 set course to launch on September 2, Preparations underway

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been in the news lately. The organisation is scheduled to launch the Aditya-L1 solar probe at 11.50 AM on Saturday, September 2, from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.

Just about ten days prior, the space agency had its spacecraft do a soft landing close to the south pole of the Moon.

The functions Aditya L1 is set to roll

Aditya L1 will be launched using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and will follow Chandrayaan-3‘s strategy by entering Earth orbit first, then accelerating and tilting to put itself on a route towards the Sun. The roughly 1.5-million-kilometer trip to L1 will take four months to complete.

Aditya L1’s Goal

Aditya L1 is the first space-based Indian mission to investigate the Sun. It is planned to be positioned in a halo orbit around the Sun and Earth’s first Lagrange point (L1). This will put it in a position where it can continuously see the sun without any eclipses. The spacecraft will continuously monitor solar activity and how it affects space weather.

More on payloads

It will transport seven payloads to orbit so that they can use electromagnetic, particle, and magnetic field detectors to study the photosphere, chromosphere, and outermost layers of the Sun’s atmosphere.

What kept ISRO scientists going for the Chandrayaan-3 mission?

In a conversation with the media, ISRO scientist Venkateshwara Sharma mentioned how everyone had to put in additional effort for the moon mission to be successful. He added that ISRO had no cash rewards for employees. But they kept on going as they were offered a free masala dosa and filter coffee at 5 p.m. every day. This made everyone stay longer.