ISRO Aditya L1 and Gaganyaan

1. ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) Chief, Mr. S Somanath, recently announced that after the successful solar mission, Aditya L1, the focus will now shift to maintenance and orbit orientation.
2. ISRO’s Aditya L1 was successfully positioned at Lagrange Point 1 which is a significant milestone in the solar mission.
3. The uniqueness and sophistication of Aditya L1 has been noted, as it is among other satellites at L1 but stands out for its advanced features.
4. Following the full accomplishment of Aditya L1, ISRO will now direct its efforts towards Gaganyaan, India’s human spaceflight programme.
5. The NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission and other research projects will be worked upon during spare time.
6. There will be precise placement monitoring of Aditya L1 in the next few hours to ensure its accuracy.
7. Aditya L1 is India’s maiden space-based solar observatory which will enable the study of the Sun and allow to observe solar activities and their influences on space weather.
8. The orbital location of Aditya L1 is about 1.5 million km from Earth where it will have a continuous view of the Sun, uninterrupted by eclipses and occultations.
9. The Halo-orbit insertion of Aditya L1 was successfully accomplished at around 4 pm with the firing of control engines for a brief duration.
10. ISRO has seen a series of victories, including the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the unchartered part of the lunar surface which was celebrated a few months ago.
11. The placement of Aditya L1 in precise Halo orbit was the primary focus of Saturday’s event.
12. The final placement required minor corrections which involved a 31 metres per second velocity given cumulatively to the satellite for the right orientation.