India's Aditya-L1 spacecraft, tasked with a groundbreaking mission to study the Sun, continues its journey smoothly, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The spacecraft is currently en route to Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 (L1), positioned approximately 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth.
ISRO recently reported that the Aditya-L1 spacecraft remains in excellent health and executed a crucial trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) that lasted approximately 16 seconds on October 6. This TCM adjustment was essential to ensure that the spacecraft remains on its intended course for Halo orbit insertion around L1. It corrected the trajectory calculated after the Trans-Lagrangean Point 1 Insertion (TL1I) maneuver conducted on September 19, 2023.
ISRO shared this update on X, its social media platform, formerly known as Twitter. They also mentioned that the magnetometer on board the spacecraft will be activated again in the coming days.
So far, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft has accomplished four earth-bound maneuvers and a Trans-Lagrangean Point 1 Insertion (TL1I) maneuver. It has successfully departed the Earth's sphere of influence, marking significant progress in its mission.
The Aditya L1 mission, which was launched on September 2 from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh following the successful Chandrayaan 3 mission, aims to provide remote observations of the solar corona and conduct in-situ observations of the solar wind at L1, also known as the Sun-Earth Lagrangian point. This data will be invaluable for scientists studying the behavior of particles around Earth.
Aditya-L1 will remain positioned around 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth, directed towards the Sun, which is roughly 1 percent of the Earth-Sun distance, as specified by ISRO. ISRO Chairman S Somanath clarified that this Sun mission will take approximately 125 days to reach its intended orbit. Importantly, the spacecraft will not land on the Sun or approach it any closer during its mission.
