The Aditya L1 mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) took a “selfie” as it traveled toward the Sun about a week after launch. The selfie and a picture of the Earth and the Moon that was shot by the spacecraft were both included in a video that ISRO posted on Thursday.
The Aditya L1 mission, which was launched on September 2 from Sriharikota’s Satish Dhawan Space Center, quickly achieved a new, higher orbit after an orbit-raising maneuver on Tuesday morning, according to an announcement from ISRO. After the maneuver, the spacecraft will be in an orbit that will take it as near as 282 kilometers above Earth’s surface and as far away as 40,225 kilometers.
Similar to Chandrayaan-3, Aditya L1 will continue to orbit the Earth for a few more days while gradually extending its distance from the planet through a series of maneuvers. It will then carry out an escape maneuver to leave the influence of Earth. It will then make its way toward the L1 Lagrange point and enter a halo orbit around it.
The first ISRO mission to a Lagrange point is this one. There are five specific locations where a small mass can orbit two large masses in a regular fashion, such as the Sun and Earth. In honor of the Italian-French mathematician Josephy-Louis Lagrange, these locations are known as Lagrange points.
Aditya-L1 Mission:
👀Onlooker!
Aditya-L1,
destined for the Sun-Earth L1 point,
takes a selfie and
images of the Earth and the Moon.#AdityaL1 pic.twitter.com/54KxrfYSwy
— ISRO (@isro) September 7, 2023
The gravitational pull of the two massive masses is about equivalent to the centripetal force necessary for a small item to travel with them at the Lagrange points. L1, L2, and L3 are three stable Lagrange points, whereas L4 and L5 are also stable. Their locations are depicted in the NASA graphic below.
The European Space Agency, however, asserts that L1 is a challenging location to go to. (ESA) The Aditya L1 spacecraft will need to perform routine, exact maneuvers to get there and stay there.