As the countdowns begin for the launch of the country's maiden solar mission -- Aditya-L1, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that we have reached the Moon and soon will reach near the Sun.
Shifting the focus to its next space odyssey after successfully placing a lander on the moon's uncharted South Pole region, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set for the country's maiden solar mission -- Aditya-L1.
"We have achieved many things in 75 years. We have reached the Moon and soon will reach near the Sun. But this is not enough," Amit Shah said during the 'Meri Maati Mera Desh' event.
He further praised the scientists and said that Chandrayaan-3 had reached the South Pole of the Moon.
"Chandrayaan-3 has reached the South Pole of the Moon. The scientists say that the many secrets will be unveiled now...Connecting every person to the development of the country and its future is the challenge the leadership needs to meet," he added.
The launch of the sun mission is scheduled for Saturday at 1150 IST from the launch pad at Sriharikota, with the launch rehearsal and vehicle internal checks all being completed.
Aditya-L1 is India's first solar space observatory and will be launched by the PSLV-C57. It will carry seven different payloads to have a detailed study of the sun, four of which will observe the light from the sun and the other three will measure in-situ parameters of the plasma and magnetic fields.
The largest and technically most challenging payload on Aditya-L1 is the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph or VELC. VELC was integrated, tested, and calibrated at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics' CREST (Centre for Research and Education in Science Technology) campus in Hosakote in collaboration with ISRO.
Aditya-L1 will be placed in a halo orbit around Lagrangian Point 1 (or L1), which is 1.5 million km away from the Earth in the direction of the sun. It is expected to cover the distance in four months' time.
On August 23, India took a giant leap as the Chandrayaan-3 lander module successfully landed on the moon's South Pole, making it the first country to have achieved the historic feat and bringing to an end the disappointment over the crash landing of the Chandrayaan-2, four years ago. Overall, India became the fourth country - after the US, China, and Russia - to have successfully landed on the moon's surface.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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