Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], January 6 (ANI): Lauding India’s Solar Mission, Aditya-L1 on Saturday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that it is a great pride for all, similar to how the Chandrayaan program was.
He underlined that it is a great feat, as he has seen the space program for many years.
“I think it’s a great feat… I have seen the Space program for many years. I have been a member of the Space Commission,” Jaishankar told reporters.
“I think it is a moment of great pride for us just like the Chandrayaan program was…” he said today, on ISRO’s Solar Mission Aditya-L1 entering Halo Orbit.
Soon after Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) placed the Aditya-L1 spacecraft into its final destination orbit, ISRO chief S Somanath said that the crucial mission is not just India’s alone but for the entire world.
“The solar mission, Aditya-L1 is for the whole of the world, not for India alone, for all of us to understand and make use of its scientific importance,” Somanath said while speaking to ANI on Saturday.
The ISRO chief said scientists had to do several corrections so that the space satellite could be placed at the precise point.
“Today’s event was only placing the Aditya-L1 in the precise Halo orbit. So it was moving towards a high orbit, but we had to do a little bit of corrections to put it in the right place. So something like 31 metres per second velocity had to be given cumulatively to the satellite to keep it at the right orientation,” Somanath said.
Meanwhile, speaking on the solar mission, former ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said that the spacecraft should take a stable orbit at the Lagrangian point so that sun can be observed uninterruptedly for the next few years.
“The thrusters be fired in such a way that the spacecraft takes a stable orbit at the Lagrangian point from which the observation of the sun can be made uninterrupted, continuously for next few years,” Madhavan Nair said, speaking to ANI in Thiruvananthapuram.
The former ISRO chief said that while on its journey, most of the instruments were calibrated, which shows that the spacecraft is in healthy condition.
In a significant scientific milestone, ISRO on Saturday injected Aditya-L1 spacecraft – the first dedicated solar mission – into its final destination orbit. (ANI)
