Sun, here we come! After success of Chandrayaan-2, ISRO plans Aditya-L1 solar mission by 2020

After putting India on the path to Moon, ISRO has set its eyes on the Sun. Latest media reports say that the Indian Space Research Organisation is planning India’s first solar mission. If all the process goes as per the plan, ISRO will launch the solar mission in the first half of 2020. The solar mission has been named Aditya L-1. ‘Aditya’ is synonym of ‘Surya’, Sun’s name in Hindi language. The L-1 in the name denotes to ‘First Lagrange’ point, the place from where the ISRO’s solar mission will observe the Sun. According to a report by ‘The Hindu’, the L-1 point is a zone where the gravitational forces of the Sun and the Earth cancel out each other, which will help the spacecraft to hover and observe the Sun.

Also Read: Sun, here we come! After success of Chandrayaan-2, ISRO plans Aditya-L1 solar mission by 2020

In technical terms, Aditya L-1 will be particularly observing the Sun’s corona. While India is planning the solar mission by 2020, the NASA has already sent its spacecraft towards the Sun. In 2018, Parker Solar probe broke record to become closest spacecraft to the Sun. The previous record for closest solar approach was set by the German-American Helios 2 spacecraft in April 1976. The Parker Solar Probe mission is expected with a final close approach of 3.83 million miles from the Sun's surface. According to NASA, the spacecraft will face brutal heat and radiation conditions while providing humanity with unprecedentedly close-up observations of a star and helping us understand phenomena that have puzzled scientists for decades. These observations will add key knowledge to NASA’s efforts to understand the Sun, where changing conditions can propagate out into the solar system, affecting Earth and other worlds.in 2024.

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On July 22, ISRO scripted history as Chandrayaan-2, the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle lifted-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre into cloudy skies at 2.43 pm and successfully placed the 3,850-kg spacecraft into the earth orbit 16 minutes and 14 seconds later. According to a statement by the Indian Space Research Organisation, Chandrayaan-2, a three-module spacecraft comprising orbiter, lander and rover, will be subjected to a series of orbit manoeuvres using its onboard propulsion system to take it to the vicinity of Moon over the next weeks with the rover soft landing planned on September 7.

The Rs 978 crore mission was called off on July 15 barely an hour before the lift-off after the scientists noticed a glitch in the three-stage rocket during the propellant filling phase. However, after quick remedial action it was rescheduled for Monday and launched successfully.