/sci/ - Science & Math

>>15712830
> ISRO will use its PSLV rocket to deploy Aditya-L1 into an initial low-Earth orbit. From here, the spacecraft will, under its own propulsion, perform a series of maneuvers to place itself into a halo orbit around the Earth-Sun L1 Lagrange point. Lagrange points are locations in space where the gravitational pull of two celestial bodies are in equilibrium, allowing objects to remain at, or orbit, the point with minimal station-keeping.

> The Earth-Sun L1 point is located directly between the Earth and the Sun, at about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. Placing solar research missions at L1 ensures their view of the Sun will not be interrupted by Earth while ensuring the spacecraft also remains relatively close to Earth for communications and data downlink.

> Upon arrival at the L1 point, Aditya will join four other spacecraft currently operating at L1: the joint NASA-ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, NASA’s Advanced Composition Explorer and Wind missions, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Deep Space Climate Observatory. Aditya will be the first Indian spacecraft to operate at L1 and is expected to reach its final orbit around the Lagrange point about 125 days after launch.