Which of the following space missions launched by India in 2024, aims to resolve the mysteries of the Sun?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Aditya-L1
Aditya-L1 is India’s first space mission to study the Sun. ISRO launched it on a PSLV rocket from Sriharikota, and on 6 January 2024 the spacecraft was placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point L1, about 15 lakh km from the Earth, from where it watches the Sun without any eclipse.
Its seven instruments study the Sun’s outer layers (the photosphere, chromosphere and corona), solar flares and coronal mass ejections, and the solar wind that reaches L1.
Note: It seems that there is a mistake in the original NTA paper, which calls Aditya-L1 a mission launched in 2024. It was launched on 2 September 2023 and only reached L1 in 2024. The other three options are 2024 missions, but none of them studies the Sun, so Option (3) is still the only possible answer. Aditya-L1 left the Earth in 2023, but in this question it took off a year late.