Why ISRO selected L1 point for Sun mission Aditya L1, former NASA scientist explains

The L1 point (Lagrangian 1) point is strategically placed such that from that location the view of the Sun is available at all times, said Ex-NASA scientist Dr Mila Mitra explaining the reason why the L-1 point was selected for the Aditya L1 Mission. Even the occurrence of other celestial phenomenons such as occultations or eclipse will not be able to block the Aditya L-1’s view towards the Sun, she explained. Notably ISRO on Monday (August 28) announced the Aditya L-1 mission which will be launched on September 2, Saturday. Aditya L-1 will be the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun.

The former NASA scientist Mitra said that the name of India’s solar mission earlier was only Aditya. “The location of the Mission will be on L1, Lagrangian; there are many Lagrangian points, which are between the Earth and the Sun. It’s a very stable point. It’s equi-distant between the gravitational force of both Earth and Sun and thus it’s stable. L1 is an important point because (it’s placed such) that the line of sight of the Aditya probe will not be hindered despite any occultations/eclipse. The point provides a continuous view of the Sun and at no point from the L1 location is the view of the Sun blocked,” Mitra said.

#WATCH | ..." The Next mission of ISRO is Aditya-L1, Aditya itself means Sun so, this mission is to observe the Sun...L-1 word is lagrangian, there are so many lagrangian points that are on the line between Earth and Sun, L-1 also is on the line between earth and sun, this point… pic.twitter.com/yKwxkHWuI8

— ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2023

Why is ISRO undertaking the Aditya L-1 mission from L1 point ?

Dr Mila Mitra, former NASA scientist, said that to travel to the L-1 point itself is a major challenge, “The Moon, Mars was closer to the Earth however the Solar probe will attempt to travel 1.5 Million Kms, between the Sun and The Earth - at the Lagrangian L1 point. The challenge is to save the probe from the high temperature and radiation (from the Sun). That is what our technology will show that we are able to achieve this. The payloads (aboard the Aditya L-1 will have to be protected),” she said.

After the successful Chandrayaan-3 soft landing on the lunar surface on August 23, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on August 28 announced India's solar mission, 'Aditya L1' which will be launched on September 2 at 11.50 am from Sriharikota. ISRO posted on X the details about the launch and also invited the citizens to witness the launch from the launch view gallery at Sriharikota. Notably, Aaditya L-1 is the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun.