GK Questions

Mariner 10 conducted three flybys of Mercury in 1974-75, mapping ~45% of its surface and discovering its magnetic field.

Aerobraking gradually lowers apoapsis by skimming upper atmosphere, saving fuel for orbit insertion (used by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mangalyaan).

T Tauri stars (<10 Myr) are variable, accreting protostars en route to main sequence, often surrounded by protoplanetary disks.

NASA's New Horizons conducted the first Pluto flyby on July 14, 2015, revealing glaciers, mountains, and atmospheric haze on the dwarf planet.

ISRO SSA Control Centre in Peenya, Bengaluru monitors space debris, tracks objects, and issues collision warnings to safeguard Indian assets.

Miranda's surface displays ovoid coronae, fault canyons, and varied terrains suggesting past tidal heating or catastrophic disruption/reassembly.

ISRO/SAC developed indigenous Rubidium atomic clocks for NavIC after import restrictions, achieving stability comparable to international standards.

Discovered in 2003, Canis Major Dwarf (~25,000 ly from Galactic Center) is closer than Sagittarius Dwarf (~50,000 ly), though its status as distinct galaxy is debated.

Launched Sept 2, 2023, Aditya-L1 entered halo orbit around L1 on Jan 6, 2024 (~126 days later), completing complex trajectory maneuvers.

At 1.5 Schwarzschild radii, photons can theoretically orbit a non-rotating black hole, forming the boundary visible in EHT images as the bright ring.

NGLV (Soorya) will use clustered semi-cryogenic engines in core and boosters for higher thrust and density, targeting reusable heavy-lift capabilities post-2030.

Tianwen ('Questions to Heaven') is China's planetary exploration program; Tianwen-1 successfully orbited, landed, and deployed Zhurong rover on Mars in 2021.

NVS (Navigation with Indian Constellation Second Generation) satellites feature L1 band compatibility and improved atomic clocks, enhancing NavIC service continuity.

Despite proximity to the Sun, Mercury's zero axial tilt keeps polar craters in permanent shadow, allowing water ice to persist, confirmed by MESSENGER mission.

Type Ia supernovae occur when carbon-oxygen white dwarfs accrete mass to ~1.4 solar masses, triggering uniform explosions useful for measuring cosmic distances.

China's Chang'e 5 returned 1.7 kg of lunar regolith in December 2020, the first lunar sample return in 44 years, from Oceanus Procellarum.

IDSN's primary 32-meter steerable parabolic antenna enables communication with deep space missions like Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan at distances beyond GEO.

Skylab operated from 1973-1979, hosting three crews and conducting solar/astronomical research before re-entering Earth's atmosphere in 1979.

Tundra orbits (inclination 63.4°, period 24 hours) dwell over high-latitude regions, used for communications where GEO coverage is poor, similar to Molniya but longer dwell time.

The Hubble Constant (H₀ ≈ 70 km/s/Mpc) quantifies the current expansion rate of the universe, relating galaxy recession velocity to distance.