Space – MCQ – GK Questions

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Valles Marineris stretches over 4,000 km across Mars' equator, making it the largest canyon system in the solar system, dwarfing Earth's Grand Canyon.

BeiDou is China's global satellite navigation system, operational since 2020, providing positioning, navigation, and timing services worldwide.

The first crewed Gaganyaan mission plans to carry three Indian astronauts to a 400 km orbit for up to three days.

Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) became visible to the naked eye in July 2020, one of the brightest comets in decades, discovered by NASA's NEOWISE mission.

Stars with initial masses above ~20-25 solar masses typically end their lives as core-collapse supernovae, leaving behind black holes. Lower-mass stars become neutron stars or white dwarfs.

While initial discoveries came from ground-based TRAPPIST telescopes, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope confirmed and characterized the seven-planet system in 2017.

GAGAN (GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation) enhances GPS accuracy for aviation and other applications over India using geostationary satellites.

Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star located about 4.24 light-years from the Sun, making it the nearest known star to our solar system.

INSAT-3DR and INSAT-3DS are dedicated meteorological satellites with enhanced capabilities for disaster monitoring, cyclone tracking, and search-and-rescue support.

Enceladus ejects water vapor and ice particles from fractures near its south pole, indicating a subsurface ocean. It is a key target for astrobiology.

Perseverance landed in Jezero Crater, an ancient river delta site chosen for its potential to preserve biosignatures and organic molecules.

Chandrayaan-1 was launched aboard PSLV-C11 on October 22, 2008, from Sriharikota. PSLV-XL variant was used for heavier payload capacity.

The Pleiades, or Messier 45, is an open star cluster in Taurus, traditionally called the Seven Sisters in Greek mythology and many cultures worldwide.

Pragyan's LIBS instrument unambiguously detected Sulphur (S) in the lunar regolith near the south pole, along with Aluminum, Calcium, Iron, Chromium, Titanium, Manganese, Silicon, and Oxygen.