Perfumes Restricted for Scientists Working on Aditya-L1: In Bengaluru, scientists and engineers of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) team working on the primary payload of the Aditya L-1 solar mission were strictly prohibited from using perfumes and aerosols.
According to the Times of India, even a single particle could have prevented the scientists from preparing Aditya’s primary payload, the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC). In order to assure a sterile environment, the scientists and engineers worked in a cleanroom or “sanctuary” that is one million times cleaner than the intensive care unit of a hospital. To prevent contamination, every team member was required to wear suits resembling those of futuristic explorers and endure ultrasonic cleaning.
The director of VELC’s technical team, Nagabushana S, told the Sunday Times of India, “It had to be kept one million times cleaner than a hospital ICU.” “We used HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filtration, 99 percent concentrated isopropyl alcohol, and stringent protocols to ensure that no foreign particles caused disruptions. Sanal Krishna from IIA, a member of the VELC technical team, stated that a single particle discharge could have undone days of labour.
Aditya-L1: All you need to know about launch, objective of ISRO’s first solar mission
Perfumes Restricted for Scientists Working on Aditya-L1: Reason
In addition, he stated that scientists worked six-hour shifts and did not even use pharmaceutical treatments in the cleanroom.
This is a measure that not even ISRO scientists adopted. According to the publication, at least three ISRO scientists were permitted to use fragrances and deodorants while on the job. However, they all concurred that cleanrooms must be spotless. The Sunday Times of India quoted one of them as saying, “Perhaps the IIA scientists were exercising extra precaution.”
Sunday morning saw the launch of Aditya L-1, India’s first solar mission, from the Isro launch site in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. It is presently on a journey of 127 days to study solar winds.
