Mission Sun: Aditya L1 successfully undergoes third earth-bound manoeuvre, says ISRO
Bengaluru (PTI): Aditya L1 spacecraft, India's first space-based mission to study the Sun, successfully underwent its third earth-bound manoeuvre in the early hours of Sunday, ISRO said.
The space agency's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) carried out the operation.
"The third Earth-bound manoeuvre (EBN#3) is performed successfully from ISTRAC, Bengaluru. ISRO's ground stations at Mauritius, Bengaluru, SDSC-SHAR and Port Blair tracked the satellite during this operation," the Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO) said in a post on social media platform X.
The new orbit attained is 296 km x 71767 km, it said, adding the next manoeuvre is scheduled on September 15, around 2 am.
Aditya-L1 is the first Indian space-based observatory that will study the Sun from a halo orbit around the first Sun-Earth Lagrangian point (L1), which is located roughly 1.5 million km from the Earth.
The first and second earth-bound manoeuvres were successfully performed on September 3 and 5, respectively. The spacecraft will undergo one more earth-bound orbital manoeuvres before it is placed in the transfer orbit towards the Lagrange point L1.
The manoeuvres are required to be performed during the spacecraft's 16-day journey around the earth, during which it will gain the velocity necessary for its onward journey to L1.
ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C57) had on September 2 successfully launched Aditya-L1 from the Second Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
The spacecraft is expected to arrive at the intended orbit at the L1 point after about 127 days, the space agency had said soon after the launch.
According to ISRO, a spacecraft placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation or eclipses. This will provide a greater advantage of observing solar activities and their effect on space weather in real-time.
Aditya-L1 carries seven scientific payloads developed indigenously by the ISRO and national research laboratories, including the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru, and the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune.
The payloads will observe the photosphere, chromosphere and the outermost layers of the Sun -- the corona -- using electromagnetic, particle and magnetic field detectors.
Using the special vantage point L1, four payloads will directly view the Sun and the remaining three will carry out in-situ studies of particles and fields at the Lagrange point L1, providing important data on the propagatory effect of solar dynamics in the interplanetary medium.
The suits of Aditya L1 payloads are expected to provide the most crucial information to understand the problem of coronal heating, coronal mass ejection, pre-flare and flare activities and their characteristics, dynamics of space weather, and propagation of particles and fields.
According to scientists, there are five Lagrangian points, or parking areas, between the Earth and the Sun where a small object tends to stay put.
The Lagrange Points are named after Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange. These points in space can be used by spacecraft to remain there with reduced fuel consumption.
At a Lagrange point, the gravitational pull of the two large bodies (the Sun and the Earth) equals the necessary centripetal force required for a small object to move with them.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Donald Trump threatens more tariffs on China as global markets plunge
Washington, Apr 7 (AP): President Donald Trump threatened additional tariffs on China on Monday, raising fresh concerns that his drive to rebalance the global economy could lead to a trade war.
Trump's threat, which he delivered on social media, came after China said it would retaliate against US tariffs announced last week.
“If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th,” he wrote on Truth Social. "Additionally, all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated!"
Trump has remained defiant as the stock market continued plunging and fears of a recession grew.
“Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!” he wrote.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,200 points as trading began on Monday morning, and the S&P 500 was on track to enter a bear market, which means falling 20% from a recent high. Even some of Trump's allies are raising alarms about the economic damage, and financial forecasts suggest more pain on the horizon for U.S. businesses, consumers and investors.
The Republican president has insisted his tariffs are necessary to rebalance global trade and rebuild domestic manufacturing. He accused other countries of “taking advantage of the Good OL' USA!” on international trade and said “our past leaders' are to blame for allowing this.” He singled out China as “the biggest abuser of them all” and criticized Beijing for increasing its own tariffs in retaliation.
Trump also called on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. On Friday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that the tariffs could increase inflation, and he said “there's a lot of waiting and seeing going on, including by us,” before any decisions would be made.
Investors expect the U.S. central bank to cut its benchmark interest rates at least four times by the end of this year, according to CME Group's FedWatch, a sign that concerns about inflation will be eclipsed by fears of layoffs and a shrinking economy.
Trump spent the weekend in Florida, arriving on Thursday night to attend a Saudi-funded tournament at his Miami golf course. He stayed at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, and golfed at two of his properties nearby.
On Sunday, he posted a video of himself hitting a drive, and he told reporters aboard Air Force One that evening that he won a club championship.
“It's good to win,” Trump said. "You heard I won, right?”
He also said that he wouldn't back down from his tariffs despite the turmoil in the global markets.
“Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something," Trump said.
Goldman Sachs issued a new forecast saying a recession has become more likely even if Trump backtracks from his tariffs. The financial firm said economic growth would slow dramatically “following a sharp tightening in financial conditions, foreign consumer boycotts, and a continued spike in policy uncertainty that is likely to depress capital spending by more than we had previously assumed."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union would focus on trade with other countries besides the United States, saying there are “vast opportunities” elsewhere.
Trump said he spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to start trade negotiations. He complained on Truth Social “they have treated the U.S. very poorly on Trade” and “they don't take our cars, but we take MILLIONS of theirs.”
Ishiba said he told Trump that he's “strongly concerned” that tariffs would discourage investment from Japan, which has been the world's biggest investor in the U.S. in the past five years. He described the situation as a “national crisis” and said that his government would negotiate with Washington to urge Trump to reconsider the tariffs.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro suggested countries would need to do much more than simply lower their own tariff rates to reach deals, saying they would have to make structural changes to their tax and regulatory codes.
“Let's take Vietnam," he said on CNBC. “When they come to us and say, We'll go to zero tariffs,' that means nothing to us because it's the non-tariff cheating that matters.”
On Monday, the president is scheduled to welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to the White House to celebrate their World Series victory. He's also meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and they're expected to hold a joint press conference in the afternoon.
Trump has strived for a united front after the chaotic infighting of his first term. However, the economic turbulence has exposed some fractures within his disparate coalition of supporters.
Bill Ackman, a hedge fund manager, lashed out at Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Sunday as “indifferent to the stock market and the economy crashing.” He said Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial firm led by Lutnick before he joined the Trump administration, stood to profit because of bond investments.
On Monday, Ackman apologized for his criticism but reiterated his concerns about Trump's tariffs.
“I am just frustrated watching what I believe to be a major policy error occur after our country and the president have been making huge economic progress that is now at risk due to the tariffs," he wrote on X.
Top White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told Fox News Channel that Ackman should “ease off the rhetoric a little bit.”
He insisted that other countries, not the United States, are “going to bear the brunt of the tariffs.”
Billionaire Elon Musk, a top adviser to Trump on overhauling the federal government, expressed scepticism about tariffs over the weekend. Musk has said that tariffs would drive up costs for Tesla, his electric automaker.
“I hope it is agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally in my view to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America,” Musk said in a video conference with Italian politicians.
He added, “That certainly has been my advice to the president.”
Navarro later told Fox News that Musk “doesn't understand” the situation.
“He sells cars,” Navarro said. “That's what he does.” He added that, “He's simply protecting his own interests as any business person would do.”
