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[Space Tech] Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSAT

Prologue

The BasicsBasic: What does ISRO do?

Basics: ISS

Basics: Tiangong and Shenzhou

Basics: Atlantis Space shuttle

Basics: Soyuz spacecraft

Basics: spacewalking

Basics: Dragon capsule

Basics: Anti-satellite missiles

Space programs: IndiaIndia’s Launch Vehicles: PSLV vs GSLV

India’s Satellites: IRS vs INSAT

ISRO’s 100th mission

India’s own GPS: IRNSS

GAGAN

Space Vision India 2025

Cryogenic Engine

Chandrayaan-1

Mars Mission

Space programs: USA (NASA)USA: MARS related

Curiosity

Gale Crater

Black Beauty

NASA: Moon related

Ebb and Flow, Sally Ride

GRAIL

LCROSS

MoonKAMs

NASA: Misc. Missions

Space Programs: Russia

Space Programs: ChinaBeidou

HXMT

Shenzhous-10

Shenzhous-9

Space Programs: Other countries

TelescopesGround telescopes

Square Kilometre Array (SKA)

Solar telescope

Space telescopes

Herschel

HXMT

Kepler

NuSTAR

PIN: Persons in News (Space)

Mock Questions

Prologue

Previous I released two Current Affairs compilations (2012-13)

1. Persons in news, books, sports, Misc.GK = click me

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1. Persons in news, books, sports, Misc.GK = click me2. Defense, missiles etc= click me.

Now moving to the third article on the series: Space tech.

For competitive exams, the Space tech is further divided into two parts:

Part What? Source

1. Theory /static

Basic info on planets, stars, supernova, big bang theory,blackholes etc.

NCERT science textbooks/ GS Manual / GKbooks.

2. Currentaffairs

Various space programs, satellites telescopes, astronauts innews.

Newspaper, magazine, internet.

When it comes to MCQs (space tech):

Both theory and current affairs are important for For SSC CGL (Tier 1), UPSC CSAT, CDS, NDA, CAPF, State PSCprelims exams.However, for IBPS, SBI, LIC type exams, they usually dont go into theory. If they want to ask space related questions, theygenerally ask it from the current affairs portion.

When it comes to Descriptive paper (Mains) of UPSC / State PSC

For space tech related questions, only current affairs is important (mostly 2 marker, 5 marker questions.) The theory portiondoesn’t come into picture, in the descriptive papers.The best way to prepare t̂his (for mains)= maintain notes out of newspapers and magazines throughout the year, and revise itoften.

Mainly there are two types of players in competitive exam (based on their approach for Space-Tech):

1. Those who donot prepare space tech at all, thinking “Thik hai…for 2-3 marks, why bother at all!?”2. Those who prepare too much space tech e.g. On April 18, 2001, at 04.22PM, GSLV-1 was launched. Its weight was 1540 kg

and height was 49m….

Either approach is dangerous. Keep the middle path.

The Basics

before dwelling into ready revision of Space-Tech current affairs, I’m going to write about a few basic concepts.Please note: following ‘basics’ are not necessarily technically correct. They’re just meant to help you visualize and rememberthings.

Basic: What does ISRO do?

1. When something is sent to space, it can be Manned (with astronauts) or Unmanned (without astronauts).2. The unmanned missions have two things:

Examples

One Launch Vehicle PSLV, GSLV

One or More Satellite(s) INSAT, RISAT, CARTOSAT.

sometimes, instead of satellites, it can be rovers, space telescopes.

The Launch Vehicle (e.g. PSLV, GSLV) sends the satellite(s) into the space.After covering a particular distance, the satellite (e.g. INSAT, GISAT) gets detached from the Launch Vehicle.Then Satellite opens up its wings like a butterfly from cocoon. Those wings have solar panels, they provide electricity to thesatellite.Satellite rotates around the earth and sends signals to and fro- thus it helps in telecommunication, TV signal broadcasting,disaster/weather monitoring, sea navigation etc.If we put the satellite @35800 km in the equatorial plane, it’ll appear “fixed” from any point on earth, and we’ll call it aGeostationary satellite.And the Launch vehicle then returns back to Earth, usually falling in the ocean or uninhibited land. The scientists collect thelaunch vehicle and re-use its parts for next mission.

Basics: ISS

ISS= International space station.

ISS is like a hostel in the space. Astronauts go there, stay for some weeks/ months do some observation, research,repairwork and come back home.US, Japan, Russia, Canada and many other countries have invested in this ISS space station.But China is not a partner in ISS project. China wants to build its own Space station. That’s were Shenzhous-9 and

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But China is not a partner in ISS project. China wants to build its own Space station. That’s were Shenzhous-9 andTiangong-1 come into picture.

Basics: Tiangong and Shenzhou

Tiangong-1= means “heavenly palace”.This is China’s experimental space station. So this is the “hostel” for Chinese astronauts in space.Ok but how will you send Chinese astronauts to this “heavenly palace”? Ans. Via Shenzhou spacecraft.Shenzhou means “Divine vessel.”In 2012, China used this “divine vessel” (Shenzhou 9) to send its first female astronaut Liu Yang to that “Heavenly palace”(Tiangong-1)In 2013, China will send more astronauts to that Heavenly palace (Tiangong-1), using Shenzhou 10.

Basics: Atlantis Space shuttle

Ok recap again, to send satellites in the space, you need a launch vehicle (e.g. PSLV, GSLV).Similarly to send people into space, you need a space craft / rocket e.g. China’s Shenzhou. America’s Atlantis and Russia’sSoyuz also do the same thing.The Atlantis is a space shuttle of NASA. It looks like an airplane.Atlantis can be used for launching space telescopes, satellites as well as people in to the space, as per the missionrequirements.And Atlantis can come back and land on earth like a regular airplane (except that during the landing, Atlantis will openparachute to reduce its speed).It had carried 33 missions from 1985 to 2011Atlantis was retired in 2012.Columbia is another example of NASA’s Space Shuttle. But in 2003, it crashed during re-entering into Earth’s atmosphere.India born female astronaut Kalpana Chawla died in this accident. We named our Weather satellite after her (KALPANA-1).

Basics: Soyuz spacecraft

Just like China uses “divine vessel” (Shenzhou) to send people into space, similarly Russia uses Soyuz to send people intospace.In 2012, three astronauts (including Sunita Williams) were sent to International space station (ISS) using Soyuz.

Basics: spacewalking

There are two types of missions/probes: Manned and unmanned.Manned = sending people into space.But what do people do in the space?

They go to moon, hoist the flag of their nations, E.g. Neil Armstrong.They spend a few months on the international space station (ISS) or Heavenly Palace (Tiangong) or similar “hostel”(space station. E.g. India’s first astronaut Rakesh Sharma spent 8 days in a Russian space station.

But often the outside body a spacecraft/hostel (space station) requires some repairing, maintenance or upgrades.So, when astronaut goes out of the spacecraft, wearing that white suit and ballon shaped helmet and does somewalking/repairing work, that is known as “spacewalk”.

Currently Sunita Williams holds the longest spacewalk record for females. (50+ hours). For males, it is Anatoly Solovyev(77+ hours).By the way, Sunita Williams also holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. (195 days).

Basics: Dragon capsule

Ok so far we know there are “hostels” in the space (e.g. ISS, Tiangong). People go there, spend a few weeks / months. But ifit is a hostel, it’d require food and supplies.A private company (Space X) has designed the “Dragon capsule” to deliver the food and supplies to space stations.It successfully delivered cargo to ISS space station in 2012.

Basics: Anti-satellite missiles

We have learned the importance of launch vehicles, satellites and space stations.But if an enemy shoots down our satellites then our banking and sharemarket system will collapse, Our army, navy andairforce will not be able to attack back effectively, and more importantly juntaa will not be able to watch IPL matches andsaas-bahu serials or log into facebook and orkut.Back in 2007, Chinese military used an Anti-Satellite missile to destroy its own weather satellite. This made Americans (andIndians) very nervous.But we have Agni-V missile. It has range of 5000kms. If we make some modifications in it, we can also use it to destroyenemy satellites. So now China is also nervous.

Basics part is over. now let’s get to business: Space Tech related current affairs (2012-13) for rapid revision. First we’ll look at thespace programs of India, US, Russia, China and other countries. Then we’ll look at telescopes and Persons in News (Space)

Space programs: India

Carried out by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)Chairman=Dr. K. Radhakrishnan. He had replaced G Madhavan Nair. (First Chairman of ISRO was Vikram Sarabhai.)

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HQ Banglore

Satish Dhawan Spacecentre

Shriharikota, Andhra. We usually launch satellites from here. (or from French Guiana inS.America).

Physics research lab Ahmedabad

Antrix Banglore

India’s Launch Vehicles: PSLV vs GSLV

PSLV GSLV

Polar satellite launch vehicle Geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle

Can carry upto 1600 kg satellite 2500kg

Used for launching Indian remote sensing satellites (IRS) such asCARTOSAT, RISAT, OCEANSAT, RESOURCESAT

For launching Indian National satellites(INSAT) such as INSAT 2E, 3A…., GSAT-2,8,12.

Latest version is PSLV-XL. Can carry upto 1750 kg. It was used to launchChandrayaan, RISAT. And in future, it’ll be used for Mars mission as well.

Next version is GSLV MK-III, can carry upto4000kg

India’s Satellites: IRS vs INSAT

IRS INSAT

Indian remote sensing satellites Indian National satellites (INSAT)

Monitoring natural resources, crops, minerals, forestcover etc.

Telecom, TV broadcast, DTH, weather forecasting, telemedicine, tele-education, search and rescue etc.

Launched using PSLV. Using GSLV.

Examples of IRS = CARTOSAT, RISAT,OCEANSAT, RESOURCESAT

Examples of INSAT= INSAT-2E, 3A,…. And GSAT-2,8,12.

Now let’s take a look at the satellites that have been in news recently (or mentioned in Yearbook)

Aditya-1 For studying Solar Coronas.

Astrosate-1 For astronomy.

CARTOSAT-3

ISRO is building this remote sensing satellite.It can take images of earth with resolution of 0.25 meters.It’ll be used for cartography and high resolution mapping.

GISAT

Geo Imaging Satellite.It’ll be positioned 36,000 kms above the earth.It’ll be used for disaster management, border security.

GSAT-10

This is India’s heaviest satellite so far.

It was ISRO’s 101st mission.It was launched French Guiana.It also carried second payload of GAGAN. (First payload of GAGAN was sent via GSAT-8).

GSAT-7It’ll increase India’s telecommunication signals.Indian Navy will also use it for communication.

INSAT-2E after serving for 13 years, this satellite completed its mission life in 2012.

INSAT-3D

Weather satellite (meteorology), search and rescue operations.

At present India’s meterological observation is done by two satellites Kalpana-1 and INSET 3A. ThisINSAT 3D is more powerful and advanced.

RISAT-1

RISAT-1 is India’s first radar imaging satelliteIt can scan the earth surface during both day and night, even in cloudy conditions. So it is an allweather satellite.

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RISAT-1 weather satellite.Use= paddy monitoring and management of natural disaster like flood and cyclone.It was launched using PSLV-XL launch vehicle.

SARAL

Indo-French satelliteSARAL= Satellite with ARgos and ALtiKa.It was launched From Sriharikota, Andhra.It’ll be used for marine meteorology, oceanography climate monitoring etc.

ISRO’s first mission was to send aryabhatta Satellite into space. But at that time we did not have our own launch vehicle, sowe used a Russian launch vehicle.Today ISRO has both Satellite + Launch vehicle. And we not only send our own satellites, we also help other countries sendtheir satellites into space, using our launch vehicles. (ofcourse after taking cash for providing the “Taxi/courier” service.)For these type of commercial activities, ISRO takes help of Antarix.Antarix is a Government owned company, it works as the marketing and commercial arm of ISRO.

ISRO’s 100th mission

ISRO’s 100th mission was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriarikota, Andhra Pradesh.Here, ISRO launched two foreign satellites using PSLV launch vehicle. The name of satellites are:

1. SPOT 6: French satellite2. Proiteres: Japanese micro satellite

By the way, recall that ISRO’s 101st mission was GSAT 10. And GSAT 10 is the heaviest satellite ISRO has launched so

far. (because 100th mission is extremely clichéd and blown out of proportion, so if UPSC wants to apply its BackbreakingTM

move, it’d rather ask about 99th or 101st mission hahaha).

India’s own GPS: IRNSS

At present only three countries have their own global navigation systems

USA GPS

Russia GLONASS. More discussed in earlier article click me

China Beidou

To deploy a global navigation system, you need to setup lots of satellites hovering around the world, so they can scan andsent pinpoint location of anywhere to anywhere.During the Iraq war, the Americans sent wrong GPS navigation signals to the Iraqi jets and missiles, therefore Iraqis could not

attack Americans forces in accurate manner.Moral of the story = Don’t rely on other people’s navigation system.For the short term, We (India) are designing our missiles and fighter jets in such way that they can use both GPS (American)and GLONASS (Russian) signals for navigation. (so if we want to attack America or its ally, we can rely on GLONASS andvice versa.)But for long term, we will need our own GPS like system. Therefore, ISRO is developing IRNSS.IRNSS= Indian regional navigational satellite system.Now if you connect the dots: we need our own GPS (IRNSS) so we can accurately attack enemies. And we will need ourown Anti-satellite missile, to shoot down satellites of enemies so their GPS cannot work accurately.

GAGAN

GPS aided geo augmented navigation’ (gagan)It is a joint effort by the ISRO and the Airports Authority Of India (AAI).It’s main use is to help Air traffic control and helps pilots fly / land aircrafts in bad weather.But as the name suggests “GPS aided …” meaning it is not a separate independent navigation system. It depends on GPS(American navigation system). Therefore we need IRNSS.

Space Vision India 2025

This is what ISRO plans to for future:

1. Use satellites for rural connectivity, security and mobile services2. Increase imaging capability for natural resource management, weather and climate change studies3. Get better understanding of solar system and universe4. explore planets.5. Develop Heavy lift launcher6. Develop Reusable Launch Vehicles.7. Send Humans to space.

Cryogenic Engine

Cryogenic engines work at very low temperature.

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Cryogenic engines work at very low temperature.ISRO is developing cryogenic engines

1. for GSLV launch vehicles.2. for Chandrayaan-2 moon mission

earlier ISRO had tried this in 2010 but it was an #EPICFAIL.

Chandrayaan-1

It was India’s first unmanned moon mission.It found evidence of water on Moon. It also did the surved the topography, craters, polar regions and environment of Moon.This happened in 2008 hence too old and too clichéd to be asked for MCQs.ISRO is now working on Chandrayaan-2 joint programme with the Russian Federal Space Agency, But Russians suffered asetback due to their Phobos grunt mission.

Mars Mission

India planning a Mars mission similar to Curiosity mission of NASA. (probably in October/November 2013.)Mohan made official announcement about this during Independence day speech.Mars mission will be launched using PSLV-XL.PSLV-XL is the most powerful version of PSLV launch vehicle. Earlier it was used for Chandrayaan Mission, RISAT andGSAT-12.

This leads to Essay / group discussion / interview topic that when millions of Indians are suffering from poverty and malnutrition,what’s point of spending crores of rupees on Moon and Mars mission? But this article is written for MCQs, so let’s not dwell intothat for the moment.

Space programs: USA (NASA)

NASA=National Aeronautics and Space Administration.There is no end to NASA missions either, but from the current affairs point of view, I would classify them into three: 1) Marsrelated 2) Moon related 3) Misc.

USA: MARS related

Curiosity

This is Maha clichéd topic for MCQs but anyways…Name of the mission is MSL: Mars Science laboratory.Under this MSL mission, NASA launched Curiosity rover to Mars in 2011.In 2012, Curiosity rover successfully landed on Mars surface.This mission has following aims

1. Did life ever exist on Mars?2. Find presence of water, and other life supporting elements.3. Collect data related to geology, radiation levels etc. for planning next manned mission to Mars.

Device on Curiosity Function

CHEMINChemistry and Mineralogy instrumentIt is used for soil analysis on Mars.CheMin found that minerals on the Red Planet are similar to those found in volcanic soils in Hawaii

TLS

Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS)

Presence of methane in a planet’s atmosphere indicates that life may have existed in the past.TLS analysed a small sample of Martian air and detected very small amount of methane.

Gale Crater

Located on Mars planet.Curiosity rover landed here and found signs that water may have flowed in the past through this Gale Crater.

Black Beauty

It is a 320 gram space rock from Mars.Discovered in Morocco’s Sahara Desert in 2011It contains more water than any other Martian meteorite previously found.could unlock vital clues to the evolution of Mars.

NASA: Moon related

Ebb and Flow, Sally

Two NASA spacecraft — Ebb and Flow, equipped with MoonKAMs.They were orbiting around Moon since 2011 under GRAIL mission.But they did not have sufficient altitude or fuel to continue science operations.

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Ebb and Flow, SallyRide

But they did not have sufficient altitude or fuel to continue science operations.Hence NASA team crash-landed them on Moon in Dec 2012.The place where they crash landed is named after Sally K. Ride, America’s first womanastronaut.

GRAILGravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL)To study the gravity field and geological structure of the Moon.

LCROSSNASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing satellite,It has detected presence of water locked inside the soil of moon.

MoonKAMsMoonKAM= Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students.The MoonKams captures images of the moon’s surface and sends them to thestudents for study.

NASA: Misc. Missions

CassiniIt found evidence of water on Titan.Titan is the largest moon of Saturn planet.

Dragon SpaceX

Dragon capsule was designed by a private company “space X”. (and not by NASA)It delivered food, supplies and cargo to International space station.It was launched using Flacon 9 rocket.

Fire FlyCubesat

It is a small satellite designed by NASA aimed to capture the details of the lightening that happensin deep space.This will help solving the mystery of terrestrial gamma rays, or TGFs.

Keplertelescope

It is a space observatory of NASA.It is used for discovering earth like plants.

Mercury

Messenger

Mercury is the innermost planet in the Solar System.

NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft has reported presence of water-ice on Mercury.

NuSTAR

NuSTAR (the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array)It is a space-based X-ray telescope.NASA launched this under Pegasus mission.NuSTAR telescope will use high power X-rays to locate black holes, collapsed stars andsupernova remnants.

PREDICCS

web-based tool for predicting and forecasting the radiation environment in near-Earth, lunar andMartian space.It will provide critical information as preparations are made for potential future manned missions tothe Moon and Mars.

Space Programs: Russia

LunaGlob

Robotic Lunar Mission in 2015.

Mars500 Joint experiments conducted by EU, Russia, China for sending human missions on Mars.

PhobosGrunt

Mars has two moons. Phobos is the largest of them.Russian sent Phobos grunt mission to study it. But thespacecraft failed and crashed into Pacific ocean.

Rus Name of the two seater spaceship developed by Russia

Soyuzrocket

Launched from Kazakhstan, carried three astronauts to International space station (ISS), including SunitaWilliams in 2012.

Space Programs: China

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BeidouBefore Beidou, only two countries had Navigation systems: USA= GPS and Russia= GLONASS.Beidou is China’s own version of global navigation system.Project will be fully operational by 2020.

HXMTHard x-ray modulation telescopeChina’s first space telescope.for studying blackholes. (recall that America’s NuSTAR is also meant for studying blackholes).

Shenzhous-10

China’s next manned space mission.

It will also carry Chinese astronauts to Tiangong-1.

Shenzhous-9

It means “divine Vessel”.Manned space mission of China.It carried China’s first woman astronaut Liu Yang to an orbiting module Tiangong-1.Tiangong-1 means “Heavenly palace”- it is China’s prototype for future space station similar toISS.

Yaogan For crop assessment and disaster management.

Chinasat It is china’s new military communication satellite.

Space Programs: Other countries

Korea

Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1)South Korea will launch this satellite and gain entry to an elite global space club that includes Asian powersChina, India and Japan.Earlier USA did not let S.Korea developed launch vehicles for the fear of arms race between North and SouthKorea.

IranPishgam =name of Monkey that was recently sent to space and returned back, under Iranian space mission. InFarsi, Pishgam = Pioneer.

Telescopes

There are two types of telescopes:

1. Those on the ground (e.g. SKA, Solar telescope in Ladakh) and2. Those in the space. (Kepler, NuSTAR, HXMT and Herschel.)

t̂his list is not exhaustive, but these telescopes were in news recently.

Ground telescopes

Square Kilometre Array(SKA)

world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescopewill be completed in 2024Will be setup in South Africa and Australia.Applications: signal transport, signal processing, computing, software and dataarchivingIndia is actively involved in this project

Solar telescope

Also known as National Large Solar Telescope (NLST)Will be built in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir by Dept of Science and

Technology.This will be world’s largest solar telescope.Can work in both day and night.Will help in understanding sunspots: process of their creation and decay.Sunspots and solar winds pose a threat to the communication system on earth aswell as space satellites.

Space telescopes

Herschel

largest space telescope ever launched (2009)It is named after Sir William Herschel who had discovered Uranus planet.This telescope is in news, because soon its onboard liquid helium supply will be exhausted EU+US

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Herschel This telescope is in news, because soon its onboard liquid helium supply will be exhaustedand it’ll stop working.Helium is required to cool the instruments on Herschele space telescope.

EU+US

HXMT

Hard x-ray modulation telescope

China’s first space telescope.for studying blackholes. (recall that America’s NuSTAR is also meant for studyingblackholes).

China

Kepler

Launched in 2009.To discover earth like planets.Kepler was a German astronomer who gave laws to describe the motion of planets around theSun.

US

NuSTAR

NuSTAR (the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array)It is a space-based X-ray telescope.NASA launched this under Pegasus mission.NuSTAR telescope will use high power X-rays to locate black holes, collapsed stars andsupernova remnants.

US

PIN: Persons in News (Space)

Liu Yang first Chinese woman astro.

Neil Armstrong Apollo 11. 1969. First man to land on moon. Dead.

Sally Ride First American woman astro. Dead. A Moon crate named after her.

Sunita Williams Longest space walk (female).Took command of international space station in Sep 12.

Dr. K. Radhakrishnan ISRO Chairman.

Finally two topics:

1. CERN, God particle= http://mrunal.org/2012/08/snt-cern.html2. Blue Moon= http://mrunal.org/2012/08/snt-blue-moon.html

Ok so these were the notable Space tech related events/ terms happened during Jan 2012 to March 2013. If you feel any importantthing was missed, or if there is any correction, do write it in the comments below.

Mock Questions

1. Which of the following country is not associated with International space station?a. Canadab. Russiac. Japand. China

2. Correct Statementsa. Tiangong-1 is the experimental space telescope of China.b. Shenzhou-9 is the name of Chinese space stationc. Bothd. None

3. Longest spacewalk record for Female Astronauts is held bya. Kalpana Chawlab. Sally Jamesc. Liu Yangd. Sunita Williams

4. Which of the following is not a telescope?a. Hubbleb. Keplerc. NuStard. Beidou

5. Incorrect Statementa. Antrix is a privately owned company of Airtel.b. Antrix is the commerical and Marketing arm of ISROc. Bothd. None

6. Find Incorrect Matcha. French Guiana=in North Africab. Satish Dhawan Space centre=Banglorec. Physics Research lab= Pune

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c. Physics Research lab= Puned. All of above

7. Correct Statements about Dragon Capsulea. It was designed by Nasab. It was used for delivering cargo to International space station.c. Bothd. None

8. Incorrect Statementsa. Indian Remote Sensing satellites are launched using GSLV.

b. Indian National satellites are launched using PSLV.c. Bothd. None

9. Correct Statements about PSLV-XLa. It is a launch vehicle, used in Chandrayaan.b. It’ll be used in India’s Mars Mission.c. Bothd. None

10. Incorrect statements about Indian remote sensing satellitesa. They are used for monitering natural resources.b. They’re launched using GSLV.c. CARTOSAT and RISAT are examples of Remote sensing satellites.d. None of Above.

11. Incorrect Matcha. Aditya: Solar Coronasb. Cartosat-3: high resolution mappingc. GSAT-10: India’s heaviest satellite so fard. SARAL: Indo-Japanese Tsunami prediction satellite.

12. Correct Matcha. Spot-6: Japanb. Proiteres: Francec. Beidou: Japand. None of above

13. Find the Odd sequencea. GLONASS, Beidou, IRNSSb. NuSTAR, HXMT, Herschelc. GAGAN, PISHGAM, SARALd. None of Above

14. which of the following country doesn’t have its own Global Navigation system?a. Russiab. Chinac. Japand. None of Above

15. which of the following is not the main aim of ISRO’s Space vision 2025?a. Develop reusable launch vehiclesb. Develop India’s own space station.c. Send humans to spaced. Use satellites for rural connectivity, security and mobile services.

16. Name of the mission under which Nasa sent a rover to Mars in 2011?a. MSLb. Curiosityc. Pegasusd. None of Above

17. Gale Crater is located in

a. Mercuryb. Saturnc. Marsd. Moon

18. Black Beauty is a space rock froma. Moonb. Marsc. Saturnd. Mercury

19. Who/ What is Sally Ride?a. First female astronaut of USAb. A Place on Moon where two NASA spacecrafts crash-landed.c. Both of aboved. None of Above

20. What is the purpose of GRAIL mission?a. Study the gravity field of Moon

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a. Study the gravity field of Moonb. Study the gravity field of Marsc. Study the gravity field of Mercuryd. Study the gravity field of Venus

21. Correct Statementa. Titan is one of the moon of Marsb. Phobos is one of the moon of Saturnc. Bothd. None

22. What is/ are common between NuSTAR and HXMTa. Both will are space telescopes used for finding black holes.b. Both are launched by NASA under Pegasus mission.c. Both A and Bd. Neither A or B

23. Beidou is thea. Space station of Chinab. Mars mission of Chinac. Global navigation system of Chinad. None of above

24. World’s Largest radio telescope:a. Herschelb. HXMTc. Hubblesd. Square Kilometer Array

25. In 2012, Sunita Williams went to ISS using which of the following spacecraft?a. Atlantisb. Discoveryc. Soyuzd. None of Above

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95 comments to [Space Tech] Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSAT

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kunalReply to this comment

Mrunal sir …when are you going to give remaining chapters on economic servey?

kkReply to this comment

There is a small typo, one of the uses of the Kepler telescope is to look out for earth-like planets, not “plants” :-)

AaravReply to this comment

Mrunal Bhai ,

You are doing a great job . Keep it Up !