India‘s Aditya L1 mission is cruising in space as it continues to move closer to its new home at the Lagrange Point 1. The spacecraft took off from India on September 2.
Lagrange points are unique locations in space where the gravitational forces of two large bodies balance the centripetal force felt by a smaller object. This makes them ideal for spacecraft as they require minimal fuel for orbit corrections.
Of the five Lagrange points (L1 to L5) in any two-body system, L1 is particularly significant. Located between the two primary bodies, in this case, the Sun and Earth, it allows for continuous observation of these bodies and unobstructed views of other celestial entities.
Aditya-L1 will operate in a ‘Halo orbit’ around the Sun-Earth L1 point, approximately 15 lakh kilometers from Earth. These orbits are three-dimensional and periodic, providing an out-of-plane motion component relative to the primary bodies. The orbit’s size ensures that it can be continuously viewed from Earth, appearing to form a halo around Lagrange Point.
The mission aims to provide comprehensive observations of the Sun’s photosphere, chromosphere, and corona. It will join several operational spacecraft that have previously been at the Sun-Earth L1 point, including the International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE-3), the Genesis mission, ESA’s LISA Pathfinder, China‘s Chang’e 5 lunar orbiter, and NASA‘s Gravity Recovery and Interior Recovery (GRAIL) mission.
Currently, Nasa’s Wind mission observes the unperturbed solar wind before reaching the magnetosphere of Earth from L1 along with Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, Advanced Composition Explorer and the Deep Space Climate Observatory, which monitors space weather and climate, deep space Earth observation.
These missions have significantly contributed to our understanding of space and our ability to monitor space weather events.
The spacecraft at the Sun-Earth L1 point provide crucial early warnings on adverse space weather events, helping to protect both orbiting space assets and ground-based infrastructure.
Despite the sparse population at the L1 point and the vast separation between spacecraft, ISRO plans to carry out periodic close approach assessments for Aditya L1.
This is due to the large positional uncertainty and sensitivity to other perturbative forces. With support from NASA-JPL, these analyses will ensure the safety of the mission and avoid any potential close approaches with neighboring spacecraft.
Aditya L1 is expected to reach its destination on January 6, 2024.
Source: India Today