NEW DELHI. India’s foray into solar exploration took off less than two weeks after a historic unmanned lunar landing in the moon’s southern polar region. The Aditya-L1 spacecraft, designed to investigate the sun, was launched from the Sriharikota space center in southern India on Saturday.
Aditya-L1’s destination is a point known as L1, situated approximately 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) from Earth, offering an unobstructed view of the sun. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) equipped the spacecraft with seven instruments to scrutinize the sun’s corona, chromosphere, photosphere, and solar wind.
ISRO expressed its delight, stating, “The vehicle has placed the satellite precisely into its intended orbit. India’s first solar observatory has begun its journey to the destination of Sun-Earth L1 point.”
The satellite is expected to reach the L1 point in 125 days.
India made history on August 23 by becoming the first nation to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole, potentially uncovering significant frozen water resources in uncharted territory. Following an unsuccessful moon landing attempt in 2019, India joined the United States, Russia, and China as the fourth country to achieve this feat.
Jitendra Singh, India’s junior minister for science and technology, commended ISRO officials for their latest launch and described it as a “sunshine moment” for the country.
The successful sun study mission, coupled with India’s lunar triumph, is poised to enhance ISRO’s global standing, according to Manish Purohit, a former ISRO scientist.
Hundreds of onlookers cheered as India’s sun mission took flight. Prakash, one of the spectators, likened the launch to “one more milestone” following the recent moon mission and noted that it would set a high standard for ISRO.
Sridevi, another spectator, expressed pride in witnessing India’s developmental activities in the space sector.
Once in its designated orbit, the satellite will provide crucial early warnings of heightened solar activity, safeguarding Earth’s power grids from potential disruptions caused by solar particles and radiation. This advance notice is crucial for protecting the global economic infrastructure’s backbone—satellites—as well as inhabitants of space stations, said B.R. Guruprasad, a space scientist, in an article in The Times of India.
Manish Purohit emphasized the significance of the seven payloads on board, which will capture images of the sun in various spectra, ensuring that no solar activity goes unnoticed.
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
