(a) whether the Indian Scientists are developing a small telescope to study some part of the yet unexplained properties of the sun;
(b) if so, the time by which it is likely to be taken to place it the telescope in the orbit;
(c) whether the telescope which is in advanced stage of development, has different instruments to study the sun in great detail at different energy levels; and
(d) if so, the extent to which the Indian scientists have been successful in developing the said telescope?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (SHRI BACHI SINGH RAWAT)
(a) Yes, Sir. The Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai are developing a small solar X-ray telescope named Solar X-ray Spectrometer to study the flux from the sun in the energy range 4 KeV to 1 MeV during solar flares.
(b) The telescope is scheduled to be placed in orbit during the year 2002-2003 on-board GSAT-2.
(c) Yes, Sir. There will be two instruments to study the total flux from the sun in high spectral and temporal resolution:
(i) Solar X-ray Spectrometer Low Energy Detector: energy range 4 KeV - 60 KeV
(ii) Solar X-ray Spectrometer High Energy Detector: energy range15 KeV - 1 MeV
These two instruments would help to study the solar disk-integrated flux in a wide energy band.
(d) The Solar X-ray Spectrometer payload development has been completed successfully and the flight model is now being fabricated for final testing and integration.