With the impending launch of India’s inaugural solar mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO provided an update on the mission’s status. On August 30, ISRO announced the successful completion of the rocket’s launch rehearsal and internal assessments.
The Aditya-L1 spacecraft has been purposefully crafted to allow Indian astrophysicists to remotely examine the Sun and everything it entails. This includes critical areas such as coronal heating, coronal mass ejections, pre-flare, and flare activities and their distinct characteristics.
Additionally, these investigations will enhance our understanding of space weather dynamics and the behavior of particles and fields as they propagate through space.
To that effect, the Aditya-L1 solar observatory is carrying the following equipment as payload:
Visible Emission Line Coronagraph(VELC)
The Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) payload is a remote sensing payload and will study the solar corona and dynamics of Coronal Mass Ejections. This observatory’s primary payload will take about 1,440 super high-resolution photos of the Sdailyday and relay everything back to ISRO’s ground station.
Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT)
The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope or SUIT payload will take images of the Solar Photosphere and Chromosphere near Ultra-violet (UV) and measure the solar irradiance variations near UV. The SUIT is also a remote-sensing payload.
Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS) and High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer(HEL1OS)
The two other remote-sensing payloads onboard the Aditya-L1 observatory will be the Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer, or SoLEXS, and the High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer(HEL1OS). These payloads will work together or in tandem and take multiple photos of the X-ray flares from the Sun over a wide energy range. That way, they can see outbursts and reactions ordinarily invisible to humans.
Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment(ASPEX) and Plasma Analyser Package For Aditya (PAPA)
These payloads are in situ, meaning they will analyze the data that the observatory’s sensors collect independently, without any intervention from the ground team. Usually, in-situ payloads or instruments have a clear objective, and anecdata are analyzed for specific studies.
Both the payloads will study solar wind and energetic ions and their energy distribution. ASPEX will study protons and other heavier particles, whereas PAPA will study electrons and other particles.
Advanced Tri-axial High-Resolution Digital Magnetometers
These are an array of magnetometers that will take readings and analyze interplanetary magnetic fields around the Lagrange Point L1. Like ASPEX and PAPA, this one is also an in-situ payload.
The mission is set to launch on September 2 at 11:50 AM from the Sriharikota spaceport. ISRO conveyed in a recent social media post that the launch preparations are steadily advancing, emphasizing that both the launch rehearsal and vehicle internal checks have been successfully concluded.
