TIRUPATI: Ahead of the crucial launch of Aditya L1 mission, aimed at studying the Sun, scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) offered prayers at Tirumala temple here on Friday

The scientists from the space agency visited Sri Venkateswara temple atop Tirumala Hills in the morning.

They prayed for the success of the mission, which is scheduled to be launched on September 2 at 11.50 a.m. from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh.

Aditya L1 spacecraft is designed for providing remote observations of the solar corona and in situ observations of the solar wind at L1 (Sun-Earth Lagrangian point), which is about 1.5 million kilometres from the earth.

The first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun would be launched by PSLV-C57 rocket.

It’s a common practice for the ISRO scientists to offer prayers at the famous hill shrine ahead of major missions.

In July, they performed puja at the temple ahead of the launch of Chandrayaan-3.

The Moon mission scripted history by successfully landing on the lunar surface on August 23. India became the only country to accomplish soft landing on the Moon’s South Pole.