Mission Surya: ISRO’s Aditya L1 spacecraft will perform important maneuvers today

Also read: Aditya-L1 mission: India’s solar mission to meet insertion point on January 6, says ISRO All you need to know

What will happen during the final orbital maneuver?

Former ISRO scientist and founder of Nimbus Education, Manish Purohit, who specializes in critical space missions like Chandrayaan-2 and Mangalyaan, told HT that a 180-degree flip of the spacecraft is performed during the maneuver. This brings up the thrusters to slow the spacecraft while aiming for a different orbit. This maneuver will last only a few seconds.

Also read: Aditya L1 mission: India’s solar mission to be placed in final orbit today, ISRO says

Since the last firing a few months ago, Aditya L1’s Liquid Apogee motors are currently in a hibernated state due to the cold space environment. When ISRO commands the motors, they will immediately fire for a specific duration and perform the maneuver at that particular moment. However, this execution requires precision to avoid over-, under- or mis-timing the motor firing.

Also read: Aditya-L1: India’s first solar mission to reach destination 1.5 million km from Earth, says ISRO

After entering the halo orbit, Aditya L1 will face challenges posed by the complex 3D nature of this orbit. The halo orbit is highly complex because it rotates around the dynamically moving L1 point. The L1 point remains continuously moving along the Earth-Sun line. Thus, Aditya orbits a non-stationary point that changes position with the Earth’s motion around the Sun.

Also read: Aditya L1 mission: What will happen after the spacecraft reaches its destination on January 6?

The Aditya L1 uses a Control Moment Gyro which helps balance the spin. These gyros are similar to those used by the International Space Station for orientation. In addition, the spacecraft’s software continuously monitors position parameters and orbital details with ground stations.

What happens if the maneuver fails?

There will be trouble if the spacecraft fails to maneuver and misses the sweet spot in the expected orbit range in case of overfiring or underfiring of the engines. The spacecraft may miss gravitational capture from the L1 point and may move out of the desired orbit and into a higher orbit. This will result in higher fuel consumption which is very important for long mission life.

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Published: 06 January 2024, 01:35 PM IST