Space – MCQ – GK Questions

Answer: Russia

Molniya orbits (inclination ~63.4°, period 12 hours) provide extended coverage over high latitudes, ideal for Russia's northern regions where geostationary satellites are ineffective.

Answer: 380,000 years

At ~380,000 years post-Big Bang, electrons combined with protons to form neutral hydrogen, allowing photons to travel freely—this relic radiation is observed today as the CMB.

Answer: Solid only

PSLV strap-on motors (PSOM) are solid-fuel boosters. Variants differ in number and size of strap-ons (e.g., PSLV-XL uses six larger PSOM-XL boosters).

Answer: ISRO

Chandrayaan-3 was entirely developed and launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) using LVM3 rocket from Sriharikota.

Answer: Hypergolic liquid engines

Gaganyaan's Service Module uses MMH/MON3 hypergolic bipropellant engines for orbit raising, circularization, and deorbit maneuvers, ensuring reliability for crew safety.

Answer: Uranus

With an axial tilt of ~98°, Uranus experiences extreme seasons where each pole gets 42 years of continuous sunlight followed by 42 years of darkness during its 84-year orbit.

Answer: Quasars

Quasi-stellar radio sources (quasars) are extremely luminous active galactic nuclei where accretion onto supermassive black holes releases immense energy.

Answer: Rosetta

ESA's Rosetta orbited comet 67P from 2014-2016, deploying the Philae lander. It provided unprecedented data on cometary composition and activity.

Answer: 21

NavIC operates with a network of 21 ranging and integrity monitoring stations across India for precise orbit determination and signal correction.

Answer: Hydrogen fusion

Main sequence stars fuse hydrogen into helium in their cores via the proton-proton chain or CNO cycle, releasing energy that counteracts gravitational collapse.

Answer: UDMH + N2O4

The Vikas engine, derived from France's Viking engine, uses hypergolic propellants: Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) as fuel and Nitrogen Tetroxide (N2O4) as oxidizer.

Answer: 2015

LIGO made the first direct detection of gravitational waves (GW150914) on September 14, 2015, from merging black holes, confirming Einstein's prediction.

Answer: Buzz Aldrin

Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin followed Neil Armstrong onto the lunar surface approximately 19 minutes after Armstrong during Apollo 11's EVA on July 20, 1969.

Answer: Oceansat

Oceansat satellites carry ocean color monitors and scatterometers for studying sea surface temperature, chlorophyll, wind vectors, and marine resources.

Answer: Ballistic capture

ISRO used a ballistic capture trajectory, arriving at Mars with minimal relative velocity, reducing fuel needed for orbit insertion compared to traditional methods.

Answer: ESA

Vega is a small-lift launch vehicle developed by ESA (primarily Italy and France) for launching small scientific and Earth observation satellites.

Answer: 1 billion tons

Neutron stars have densities of ~10^17 kg/m³. A cubic centimeter (teaspoon-sized) would weigh roughly a billion metric tons due to degenerate neutron matter.

Answer: OSIRIS-REx

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission returned a capsule containing asteroid Bennu samples to Utah on September 24, 2023, for laboratory analysis.

Answer: Earth Observation

Sun-synchronous orbits maintain constant illumination angles, ideal for consistent imaging conditions required by remote sensing and earth observation satellites.

Answer: Triangulum Galaxy

The Local Group contains three large spiral galaxies: Milky Way, Andromeda (M31), and Triangulum (M33), plus dozens of dwarf galaxies.