India's Aditya-L1 successfully completes fourth earth-bound manoeuvre, next send off from Earth on Sep 19

The Aditya-L1 spacecraft, the nation's inaugural mission aimed at studying the Sun from space, successfully completed its fourth earth-bound manoeuvre during the early hours of Friday. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) made the announcement via its official account on the X platform.

The operation, known as the fourth Earth-bound manoeuvre (EBN#4), proceeded without a hitch, marking yet another achievement in the mission's ongoing journey. The ISRO ground stations in Mauritius, Bengaluru, SDSC-SHAR (Satish Dhawan Space Centre - Sriharikota Range) and Port Blair diligently tracked the satellite during this crucial phase. Additionally, a transportable terminal situated in the Fiji islands, dedicated to the Aditya-L1 mission, provided vital support for post-burn operations.

With this successful manoeuvre, the spacecraft has entered a new orbit with dimensions of 256 km by 121,973 km. The next critical step, the Trans-Lagrangian Point 1 Insertion (TL1I), which serves as a send-off from Earth, is scheduled for September 19 at approximately 02:00 Hrs. IST.

Aditya-L1 stands as India's inaugural space-based observatory designated to study the Sun from a halo orbit situated around the first Sun-Earth Lagrangian point (L1), positioned roughly 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth.

Previously, the first, second, and third earth-bound manoeuvres were successfully executed on September 3, 5, and 10, respectively. These manoeuvres are pivotal during the 16-day trajectory around Earth, facilitating the spacecraft in gaining the necessary velocity for its journey toward the L1 Lagrange point.

Having now completed four earth-bound orbital manoeuvres, Aditya-L1 is poised for its next challenge: the Trans-Lagrangian 1 insertion manoeuvre. This marks the commencement of its nearly 110-day journey to the destination orbiting the L1 Lagrange point.

Upon arrival at the L1 point, another critical manoeuvre will bind Aditya L1 to an orbit around L1, a gravitational equilibrium point between Earth and the Sun. During its mission, the satellite will continuously orbit L1 in an irregularly shaped orbit, positioned perpendicular to the line joining Earth and the Sun.

On September 2, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft was successfully launched by ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C57) from the Second Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. After a flight duration of 63 minutes and 20 seconds, the spacecraft was injected into an elliptical orbit measuring 235x19,500 km around Earth.

The strategic positioning of a spacecraft in a halo orbit around the L1 point offers a unique advantage: it ensures uninterrupted observation of the Sun, free from any occultation or eclipses. This enables real-time monitoring of solar activities and their impact on space weather.

Aditya-L1 is equipped with seven scientific payloads, all developed indigenously by ISRO and national research laboratories, including the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) in Bengaluru and the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune. These payloads are designed to observe the photosphere, chromosphere, and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic particle and magnetic field detectors.

Furthermore, Aditya L1's unique vantage point at L1 allows four payloads to directly observe the Sun, while the remaining three payloads perform in-situ studies of particles and fields at the Lagrange point L1. These scientific instruments promise crucial insights into coronal heating, coronal mass ejections, pre-flare and flare activities, space weather dynamics, and the propagation of particles and fields.

The mission's objectives are aligned with scientists' quest to comprehend the intricate dynamics of space surrounding the Earth-Sun system, with the Lagrange points serving as strategically advantageous locations for spacecraft to operate with reduced fuel consumption.

Named after the renowned Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange, these Lagrange points offer the ideal equilibrium between the gravitational pull of the two massive bodies, the Sun and the Earth, and the centripetal force required for small objects to remain in synchronised motion with them.

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