Chennai, Jan 7:
Marking a major achievement in India’s space odyssey, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) created history on Saturday by successfully inserting its first Solar exploratory mission spacecraft Aditya-L1 in the halo orbit at Lagrange-L1 point.
After completing a four month long voyage and traversing 1.5 million km, it reached the L1 point today evening at around 1600 hrs, ISRO said.
“Halo-Orbit Insertion (HOI) of its solar observatory spacecraft, Aditya-L1 was accomplished at 1600 hrs (approx) on January 6, 2024 (IST)”, it said.
The final phase of the manoeuvre involved firing of control engines for a short duration. India became the first country in the world to achieve this accomplishment to study the outer atmosphere of the most hottest planet.
Scientists at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) fired the LAM motors
on board the spacecraft to take it to the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point L1 in a halo orbit.
President Draupady Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Jitendra Singh lauded
ISRO for achieving this extraordinary feat.
In a post on X, Ms Murmu said yet another grand feat was achieved by ISRO.
“Another grand feat accomplished by ISRO! As part of India’s maiden solar mission, Aditya L1, the observatory has been placed in the final orbit and reached its destination at Lagrange Point 1.”
“Congratulations to the entire Indian scientist community for the great achievement!”, she added.
This mission will enhance our knowledge of the Sun-Earth System and benefit the entire humanity, the President said.
She also said that significant participation of women scientists in ISRO missions takes women empowerment too onto a higher orbit.
Mr Modi posted “India creates yet another landmark.”
“India’s first solar observatory Aditya-L1 reaches it’s destination. It is a testament to the relentless dedication of our scientists in realising among the most complex and intricate space missions. I join the nation in applauding this extraordinary feat. We will continue to pursue new frontiers of science
for the benefit of humanity,” Mr Modi posted on X.
As the spacecraft travelled towards L1, it exit the Earths’ gravitational Sphere of Influence (SOI). After
its exit from SOI, the cruise phase started and subsequently the spacecraft was injected into a large halo orbit around L1.
The total travel time from launch to L1 took about four months for Aditya-L1.
Upon arrival at the L1 point, another manoeuvre binds Aditya-L1 to an orbit around L1, a balanced gravitational location between the Earth and the Sun.
This will be the second major achievement for the Indian Space Agency after its third Lunar Mission Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the Moon’s South Polar region, an hitherto unexplored area.
The Space agency said India’s maiden solar mission Aditya L1 reached the L1 point on January 6, 127 days after it was launched on September 2, 2023.
