India’s race to space exploration: Read top stories on Aditya L1 mission launch and more

Days after landing on the Moon, India is now aiming at the Sun. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) Aditya-L1 solar mission was launched today from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Isro is in the race to become the fourth space agency to place a spacecraft in the Sun’s orbit, after the National Aeronautics and Space Association (NASA) of the USA, China’s CNSA (China National Space Administration), and European Union’s ESA (European Space Agency).

India will soon have a greater advantage of observing solar activities and their effect on space weather in real-time with the launch of Aditya-L1, the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun, which was launched on September 2, at 11:50 am from Sriharikota.

Named after a Sanskrit word for the Sun, the Aditya L1 mission intends to put a spacecraft at a Lagrange point between the Earth and the Sun. From this point, the spacecraft will monitor the solar surface for the next five years. The Lagrange point chosen for this mission is the L1 (hence the name), which is approximately 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth.

What is a Langrange point?
In the realm of space exploration, Lagrange Points are the celestial hotspots where gravitational forces between two colossal objects, like the Sun and Earth, create zones of heightened attraction and repulsion. These cosmic locations can be used by the spacecraft to drastically cut down on the energy needed to maintain their position.

These points are named Lagrange Points, in honour of mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange.

There are five discovered Lagrange points in space where smaller objects can maintain a steady orbit between two larger ones. At these points, the gravitational pull of the larger objects precisely equals the centripetal force needed for a smaller object to stay in sync with them.

Here are few must-read stories about India’s space missions

India’s Moonshot Successful: Chandrayaan-3 successfully makes soft landing on Moon | Fulfilling the dream of 140 crore Indians, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on August 23 touched down on the surface of the Moon after its 41-day odyssey. Chandrayaan-3 is the most ambitious project of Isro so far.

Also read | A timeline on humanity’s bid to explore the Moon

Chandrayaan-3: Isro makes first observations from ChaSTE payload | The Isro on Sunday made the first observations from the ChaSTE payload onboard Vikram lander from the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

Chandrayaan-3 rover confirms presence of sulphur on moon: On Tuesday, Isro announced that the payload or instruments aboard the Pragyan rover confirmed the presence of sulphur and other chemical elements, as expected, on the lunar surface near the south pole, and that the search for hydrogen is underway.

Also read | Lessons from Chandrayaan-3 may Land in IIM Classrooms

Chandrayaan-3’s rover discovers minor elements, measures lunar plasma environment | What are lunar soil and rocks made of in the south polar region where Chandrayaan-3 landed? How is it different from other highland regions? These are the questions that the Chandrayaan-3 rover is trying to find answers to with its scientific instruments.

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