What India is looking for with mission to the sun shortly after reaching the moon – 9/2/2023 – Science

India launched its first Sun Observation mission just days after the country made history by becoming the first to land near the Moon’s south pole.

The Aditya-L1 spacecraft took off from the launch pad in Sriharikota on Saturday at 11:50 am Indian time (8:30 am ahead of Brazil).

India’s first space mission to study the Sun is named after Surya — the Hindu god of the Sun, also known as Aditya.

And L1 stands for Lagrange point 1 — the exact spot between the Sun and Earth where the Indian spacecraft is heading.

That’s 1.5 million km from Earth—1% of the Earth-Sun distance.

India’s space agency claims it will take four months to travel that far.

According to the European Space Agency, a Lagrange point is a place where the gravitational forces of two large objects — such as the Sun and Earth — balance out, allowing a spacecraft to “hover”.

Once the Aditya-L1 satellite reaches this “parking point”, it will be able to orbit the Sun at the same speed as the Earth. This also means that it will require very little fuel to run.

On the way to the sun

On Saturday morning, thousands of people gathered at the gallery set up by the Indian Space Research Agency (ISRO) near the launch site to watch the liftoff.

It was also broadcast live on national TV, where commentators described the launch as “magnificent”. Isro scientists said the launch was successful and that its “performance is normal”.

After an hour and four minutes into the flight, ISRO declared the “mission successful”.

“Now the spacecraft will continue on its journey — it’s a very long journey of 135 days, let’s wish it the best of luck,” said Isro chief Sreedhara Panicker Somanath.

Project director Nigar Shaji said that once Aditya-L1 reaches its destination, it will benefit not only India but also the global scientific community.

Aditya-L1 will now travel several times around the Earth before being launched towards L1.

Once you reach this vantage point, you will be able to observe the Sun constantly —even when it is hidden during an eclipse —and carry out scientific studies.

Isro did not say how much the mission would cost, but Indian media reports put it at 3.78 billion rupees (R$225 million).

solar winds

Isro says the spacecraft carries seven scientific instruments that will observe and study the solar corona (the outermost layer), the photosphere (the surface of the Sun, the part we see from Earth) and the chromosphere (a thin layer of plasma that lies between the photosphere and the corona).

The studies will help scientists understand in real time solar activity, such as the solar wind and solar flares, and their effects on Earth and the “climate” of near space.

Former Isro scientist Mylswamy Annadurai says the Sun constantly influences the Earth’s climate through radiation, heat and flow of particles and magnetic fields. At the same time, he says, it also impacts “space weather”.

“Space weather plays a role in how effectively satellites function. Solar winds or storms can affect satellite electronics and even knock out power grids. But there are gaps in our knowledge of space weather,” Annadurai tells the BBC. .

India has more than 50 satellites in space and they provide many crucial services to the country, including communication, weather data and information that helps predict pest infestations, droughts and impending catastrophes. According to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), approximately 10,290 satellites remain in Earth orbit, with nearly 7,800 of them currently operational.

Aditya will help us better understand the star our lives depend on and give us warnings about solar events, says Annadurai.

“Knowing the Sun’s activities, such as the solar wind or a solar flare a few days in advance, will help us move our satellites out of harm’s way. This will help increase the longevity of our satellites in space.”

club for few

The mission, he adds, will above all help to improve our scientific understanding of the Sun – the 4.5 billion-year-old star that sustains our solar system.

India’s solar mission comes just days after the country successfully landed the world’s first probe near the lunar south pole.

With that, India also became the fourth country in the world to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, after the US, the former Soviet Union and China.

If Aditya-L1 is successful, India will join the select group of countries already studying the Sun.

Japan was the first to launch a mission in 1981 to study solar flares. The US space agency Nasa and the European Space Agency (ESA) have been observing the Sun since the 1990s.

In February 2020, NASA and ESA jointly launched Solar Orbiter, which is studying the Sun up close and collecting data that scientists say will help understand what drives its dynamic behavior.

And in 2021, NASA’s newest Parker Solar Probe spacecraft made history by becoming the first to fly through the corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun.