India plans to launch satellite to study sun
Friday, 29 February 2008, 02:11 IST
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New Delhi: India's space agency, readying for a mission to the moon, is also planning to launch a satellite, Aditya, to study the sun, parliament was informed on Wednesday. "Aditya will carry an instrument intended to study the outmost region of the sun, called corona. It will also study the coronal mass ejection and the crucial physical parameters of space weather, such as, the coronal magnetic field structures and evolution of the coronal magnetic field," Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply. He said the mission was intended to enhance the scientific knowledge of the sun's radiation and the continuous monitoring of the sun's atmosphere. "This data will also help to design the satellites to withstand adverse effects of solar environment," he added. Speaking about the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) lunar mission, the minister said the launch of Chandrayan-I slated for April was shifted to June-July, 2008. He said the date was deferred to "ensure thorough and appropriate testing of various subsystems and the spacecraft to ensure the mission performance". "The payloads are being received from various agencies and the satellite integration is progressing as planned," he informed.
Source: IANS
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