The Aditya L1 solar probe has made further progress towards its goal of orbiting the sun, according to the Indian space agency ISRO.
The space probe has now reached a position where it is no longer affected by Earth’s forces, according to a statement from ISRO.
The goal is that Aditya L1 will, among other things, study the sun’s radiation and plasma eruptions. When the energy from the eruptions reaches Earth, it can disturb satellites, for example, and the hope is that Aditya will be able to help reduce such problems.
The probe was launched on September 2 this year and began its journey by traveling around the Earth for a few weeks. The fact that it was allowed to lie in orbit around the earth first meant that less fuel was required when it then went on into space.
In total, the probe must travel a total of 1.5 million kilometers over four months before it reaches its destination – L1, one of our solar system’s so-called Lagrange points. These are places where the gravitational pull of celestial bodies cancels each other out, so that satellites and probes can remain relatively easily without having to adjust their position with rockets.