2023-09-03 01:05:24
NEW DELHI — India launched its first space mission to study the sun on Saturday, less than two weeks following a successful uncrewed landing near the moon’s south polar region.
The Aditya-L1 probe took off on a satellite launcher from the Sriharikota space center in southern India to study the sun from a point regarding 1.5 million miles from Earth. The point, known as L1, offers an uninterrupted view of the sun.
The spacecraft is equipped with seven devices to study the solar corona, chromosphere, photosphere and solar wind, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said.
After more than an hour, ISRO said the launch had been “successfully completed”.
“The vehicle placed the satellite precisely in the planned orbit. India’s first solar observatory has started its journey towards Sun-Earth point destination L1,” ISRO wrote on social network X, formerly Twitter.
The satellite should take 125 days to reach the L1 point.
India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the South Pole of the Moon on August 23, a historic journey to uncharted territory which scientists believe might hold vital supplies of frozen water. After a failed attempt to land on the moon in 2019, India joined the United States, Russia and China as the fourth country to achieve this milestone.
Jitendra Singh, India’s junior science and technology minister, praised ISRO officials for their work on the latest launch.
“Congratulations to India. Congratulations ISRO, he said as he stood in ISRO’s control room. It is a moment of sunshine for India.”
The study of the sun, combined with the success of India’s moon landing, would completely change ISRO’s image in the global community, said Manish Purohit, a former scientist with the research body.
Hundreds of people gathered to watch the launch cheered as the Indian solar mission lifted off.
Among the onlookers, Prakash, who only disclosed his first name, said the launch was “one more step” like the country’s recent lunar mission. “It will set the bar high for ISRO,” he said.
“We are privileged to be Indians and to witness this type of Indian space center development activity,” said Sridevi, who also gave only his first name.
Once in place, the satellite would provide reliable warning of particle and radiation attack from increased solar activity that might destroy power grids on Earth, space scientist BR Guruprasad said in an article. from The Times of India newspaper. Early warning might protect the satellites that form the backbone of the global economic fabric, as well as the people living on space stations.
“These seven devices will study the sun as a star in all possible positions of the visible, ultraviolet and X-ray spectrum. It is as if we were going to obtain a black and white image, a color image and a high definition image. , a 4K image of the sun, so you don’t miss a thing of what’s happening on the sun,” Purohit said.
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