As September 2023 has come to a close, let’s review what has happened beyond low earth orbit. This month we had historic firsts for India and NASA as well.
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India launches the Aditya L1 mission to study the Sun
On September 2, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched its Aditya L1 mission. It’s India’s first space-based mission to study the Sun. The spacecraft will travel to the Sun-Earth Lagrange point 1 (L1), which it will orbit using a so-called halo orbit.
Placing Sun-focused spacecraft at the L1 point offers a unique advantage, as it allows them to maintain an uninterrupted view of the Sun without encountering eclipses.
Aditya L1, however, will not be alone at the L1 point. Other spacecraft orbiting L1 are the joint NASA-ESA Solar & Heliospheric Observatory mission (SOHO), NASA’s Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) and NASA’s Wind spacecraft.
Although not at the Sun-Earth L1 point, there are many more missions to study our Sun. Just to name a few, there are the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), the Solar Orbiter or the Parker Solar Probe.
Returning to Aditya L1, the spacecraft carries seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona). It will achieve this by using electromagnetic and particle and magnetic field detectors.
For those interested in further details, you can visit the ADITYA-L1 website or read about how ESA supports the mission.
Chandrayaan-3’s mission ends
On September 3, the Pragyan rover entered sleep mode, preparing for the lunar night after successfully completing its designated tasks.
On the same day, the lander successfully completed a hop experiment to test capabilities for a future sample return mission. Subsequently, it was put into sleep mode as well.
As neither the lander nor the rover were designed to survive the lunar night, this successfully concluded the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
There was some hope that either the lander or rover might awaken from hibernation on September 22, but regrettably, this did not occur.
For more information about the Chandrayaan-3 mission, you can refer to ISRO’s website.
Voyager 1 begins 47th year in space
On September 5, Voyager 1 began its 47th year in space. It is the farthest human-made object from Earth and the first to venture into interstellar space.
To delve deeper into the Voyager 1 mission, you can explore NASA’s dedicated webpage.
Juno makes its 53rd science flyby of Jupiter
Two days later, NASA’s Jupiter Orbiter (Juno) did its 53rd science flyby of Jupiter. This is a part of Juno’s orbit of Jupiter, with its closes approach. As this is the optimal time to collect scientific measurements, all instruments aboard Juno are turned on and collect data.
Read more about the Juno mission on the mission website, or read my blog post about Jupiter and its Moons.
OSIRIS-REx returns asteroid samples to Earth
On September 8, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft entered its 8th year in space. And only a couple of days later, it returned to Earth to deliver about 60 grams of samples from the asteroid 101955 Bennu.
After launching in 2016, the spacecraft reached Bennu in December 2018. There it orbited to study the asteroid up close and let Scientists pick a spot to shortly to down to collect samples.
This happened in October 2020. In fact, it collected more samples than expected. After storing the samples in a special container, the spacecraft left Bennu in May 2021 to return the samples to Earth.
Learn more about OSIRIS-REx by visiting NASA’s webseite.
Jaxa’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) launches
On September 6, JAXA launched its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission. The mission is currently in transit to the Moon and will attempt a soft landing east of the Shioli crater in January or February next year.
Visit JAXA’s website about the SLIM spacecraft for more information and updates.
MAVEN enters 10th year of operations in Mars orbit
On September 21, NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft started its 10th year of operations in Mars orbit.
MAVEN was the first mission dedicated to studying Mars’ upper atmosphere. It launched on November 18, 2013, and was designed for two years.
However, it is operating normally until today and also serves as a communications relay for the Mars rovers Curiosity and Perseverance.
Check out NASA’s website about the mission to learn more.