New Delhi: In a significant development, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced that its Aditya-L1 mission has initiated the collection of valuable scientific data, marking a significant achievement in India’s endeavours to explore the sun.
ISRO made the announcement via its official platform, stating, “Aditya-L1 Mission: Aditya-L1 has commenced collecting scientific data. The sensors of the STEPS instrument have begun measuring supra-thermal and energetic ions and electrons at distances greater than 50,000 km from Earth. This data helps scientists analyse the behaviour of particles surrounding Earth. The figure displays variations in the energetic particle environment, collected by one of the units.”
The Supra Thermal and Energetic Particle Spectrometer (STEPS) instrument, which forms an integral part of the Aditya Solar Wind Particle EXperiment (ASPEX) payload, has officially initiated its data collection operations.
STEPS, armed with a suite of six sensors strategically positioned to monitor various directions, is tasked with the precise measurement of supra-thermal and energetic ions within the energy range of 20 (kiloelectronvolt) keV/nucleon to 5 (mega electron volt) MeV/nucleon, as well as electrons surpassing 1 MeV.
These measurements are of paramount importance in comprehending the behaviour of particles surrounding Earth, particularly in the context of Earth’s magnetic field.
The activation of STEPS occurred on September 10, at a substantial distance exceeding 50,000 kilometres from our planet’s surface, equivalent to more than eight times the Earth’s radius. Following essential health checks of the instrument, the process of data collection continued as the spacecraft moved beyond the 50,000-kilometer threshold from Earth.
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