Aditya L1: India’s Maiden Space Mission to Study the Sun

[JANASENA]

The Aditya-L1 space mission will be the maiden space observatory of India dedicated to study the Sun. As of now the mission is planned for launch around 2019-2020.

The mission will also India’s first mission placed at the Lagrange point L1. L1 is a vantage point as it would provide 24×7 unobstructed views of the Sun. The space mission will carry seven payloads viz. Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC), Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT), Aditya Solar wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX), Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA), Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS), High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS) and Magnetometer.

These instruments will enable us to understand some mysteries such as why the outermost layer of the Sun is million degrees hot (known as the coronal heating problem), mechanism of generation of solar storms and developing prediction capabilities to protect resources on Earth such as satellites, power grids etc., solar wind acceleration etc.

 

Cartoon fig. of Aditya L-1 (Credit: ISRO)

The scientific payloads are being designed and made by different teams from various Indian Institutes viz. IIA Bangalore, IUCAA Pune, PRL Ahmedabad, VSSC Thiruvananthapuram, ISAC Bangalore and LEOS Bangalore.

 

Aditya L-1 will be launched onboard ISRO’s PSLV-XL rocket from India’s space port in Sriharikota and would certainly help us to learn about the known unknowns and enable us to improve our understanding how our Sun works.

[Idassamed]

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