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Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese Army is continuing its investigations and will later announce any information that does not affect the confidentiality of the investigation
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: It has not yet been determined whether the detainees belong to ISIS or another organization
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Around 10 people of different nationalities, including Lebanese nationals, were detained
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese army arrested a number of people in the Matn area of Mount Lebanon with possession it has not disclosed
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: We have strong indications that there are martyrs, injuries, and trapped people in the Salah al-Din area
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Citizens should avoid Salah al-Din Street because anyone who approaches it is at risk of being directly targeted
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Reality is that there is a very limited retreat of the vehicles, with the occupation forces providing cover undeer fire up to Salah al-Din Street
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Claims that the Israeli occupation has withdrawn from areas in the neighborhoods of al-Zaytoun, al-Tuffah, and al-Shujaiya are false
Hamas: The two delegations stressed that any negotiations must lead to the achievement of our people's goals and aspirations, foremost among which is ending the war and the complete withdrawal of enemy forces
Hamas: A delegation from the Hamas leadership, led by the head of the leadership council, Mohammad Darwish, met with an Islamic Jihad delegation, headed by its Secretary-General, Ziyad al-Nakhalah

A week after Moon landing, India launches probe to Sun

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 2 Sep 2023 13:08
3 Min Read

The Aditya-L1 is carrying scientific instruments to observe the Sun's outermost layers in a four-month journey.

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  • India
    Indian Space Research Organization's Aditya-L1 spacecraft takes off from Sriharikota, on a voyage to the center of the Sun, on September 2, 2023 (AFP)

India launched on Saturday Aditya-L1, its latest mission on a voyage toward the center of the solar system, a week after the country's successful unmanned Moon landing.

"Launch successful, all normal," an Indian Space Research Organisation official announced from mission control as the vessel made its way to the upper reaches of the Earth's atmosphere.

The mission is carrying scientific instruments to observe the Sun's outermost layers in a four-month journey.

The United States and the European Space Agency (ESA) have sent numerous probes to the center of the solar system, beginning with NASA's Pioneer program in the 1960s. Japan and China have both launched their own solar observatory missions into Earth's orbit.

But if successful, the latest mission from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be the first by any Asian nation to be placed in orbit around the Sun.

"It's a challenging mission for India," astrophysicist Somak Raychaudhury told broadcaster NDTV on Friday.

Raychaudhury explained that the mission probe would study coronal mass ejections, a periodic phenomenon that sees huge discharges of plasma and magnetic energy from the Sun's atmosphere.

These bursts are so powerful they can reach the Earth and potentially disrupt the operations of satellites.

Aditya will help predict the phenomenon "and alert everybody so that satellites can shut down their power," Raychaudhury said, adding that "it will also help us understand how these things happen, and in the future, we might not need a warning system out there."

Aditya will travel 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) to reach its destination -- still only one percent of the vast distance between Earth and the Sun.

It is traveling on the ISRO-designed, 320-tonne PSLV XL rocket that has been a mainstay of the Indian space program, powering earlier launches to the Moon and Mars.

The mission also aims to shed light on the dynamics of several other solar phenomena by imaging and measuring particles in the Sun's upper atmosphere.

India has a comparatively low-budget space program, but one that has grown considerably in size and momentum since it first sent a probe to orbit the Moon in 2008.

Experts say India can keep costs low by copying and adapting existing technology, and thanks to an abundance of highly skilled engineers who earn a fraction of their foreign counterparts' wages.

Last month's successful landing on the lunar surface -- an achievement previously done only by Russia, the United States, and China -- cost less than $75 million.

India became the first Asian nation to put a craft into orbit around Mars in 2014 and is expected to launch a three-day crewed mission into the Earth's orbit by next year.

The South Asian nation also plans a joint mission with Japan to send another probe to the Moon by 2025 and an orbital mission to Venus within the next two years.

  • Indian Space Research Organisation
  • India
  • Aditya-L1
  • sun

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