ISRO’s Aditya-L1 Mission: Why Lagrange Point 1 Is Crucial To Studying The Sun.
L1 Is Approximately 1.5 Million Kilometers Away From The Earth. The Satellite Will Be Able To Monitor The Sun Continuously Without Any Occultations Or Eclipses As It Moves In The Halo Orbit Around The L1 Point.
ISRO’s Forthcoming Space-Based Project To Study The Sun, Aditya-L1, Is Scheduled To Launch In The First Week Of September. The Aditya-L1 Spacecraft Will Be Launched From The Facility At Sriharikota.
The Lagrange Point 1 (L1) Of The Sun-Earth System, Which Is Around 1.5 Million Kilometers From Earth, Will Be The Location Of The Spacecraft In A Halo Orbit.
What Exactly Is Langrage Point 1?
The Earth-Sun System’s L1 Point Provides An Unobstructed View Of The Sun And Is Now Home To The Solar And Heliospheric Observatory Satellite SOHO. The L2 Point In The Earth-Sun System Was Home To The WMAP Satellite, Is Now Home To Planck, And Will Be Home To The James Webb Space Telescope In The Future.
Lagrange Point 1, Or L1, Is Located Around 1.5 Million Kilometers (About 930,000 Miles) From Earth In The Direction Of The Sun. The Lagrange Points Are The Places In Space Where A Tiny Item Prefers To Stay If Placed In A Two-Body Gravitational System. Spacecraft May Exploit These Spots In Space For Two-Body Systems Like The Sun And Earth To Stay In Place With Less Fuel Usage. Technically, The Gravitational Attraction Of The Two Huge Masses Equals The Centripetal Force Required For A Tiny Item To Travel With Them At Lagrange Point. There Are Five Lagrange Points For Two-Body Gravitational Systems, Labeled L1, L2, L3, L4, And L5.
The Importance Of L1 In Sun Research
L1 Is An Especially Intriguing Position Because Any Item Placed There Will Remain Reasonably Steady In Relation To The Earth-Sun System. This Stability Results From The Interaction Of Gravitational Forces At This Point, Making It An Ideal Position For A Variety Of Scientific Research And Space Missions.
The Aditya-L1 Mission Will Be Launched By ISRO’s PSLV XL Rocket From Sriharikota’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC-SHAR). The Spacecraft Will First Be Deployed In Low-Earth Orbit. The Orbit Will Then Be Made More Elliptical, And The Spacecraft Will Be Propelled Towards L1 Using Onboard Propulsion. As It Approaches L1, The Spacecraft Will Leave The Earth’s Gravitational Sphere Of Influence (SOI). The Cruise Phase Will Begin Once The Spacecraft Exits SOI, And The Spacecraft Will Then Be Injected Into A Huge Halo Orbit Around L1. Aditya-L1’s Entire Trip Time From Launch To L1 Would Be Around Four Months.
Any Object In L1 Is Reasonably Stable In Relation To The Earth-Sun System. A Satellite In Halo Orbit Around The L1 Point Has The Significant Benefit Of Continually Observing The Sun With No Occultation Or Eclipses. The ISRO Asserted That This Would Give It A Greater Advantage In Real-Time Observation Of Solar Activity And Its Impact On Space Weather.