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Aditya-L1's PAPA payload stands for Plasma Analyser Package for _______.
- Aditya
- Astrophysics
- Atmosphere
- Asteroids
Answer: Aditya
PAPA measures solar wind plasma parameters (density, velocity, temperature) to understand coronal heating and space weather drivers.
Quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in X-ray binaries help estimate black hole spin.
- True
- False
Answer: True
High-frequency QPOs correlate with inner disk dynamics near ISCO, providing indirect spin measurements complementary to continuum fitting.
The REXUS/BEXUS program provides student teams access to which platforms for experiments?
- ISS only
- Sounding rockets and stratospheric balloons
- CubeSats only
- Ground labs only
Answer: Sounding rockets and stratospheric balloons
REXUS (rockets) and BEXUS (balloons) are ESA/DLR/SNSB programs offering students hands-on experience in microgravity/atmospheric research.
Which space agency developed the Long March family of launch vehicles?
- JAXA
- CNSA
- KARI
- ISA
Answer: CNSA
Long March rockets are China's primary launch vehicles, evolving from DF-5 ICBM technology to support crewed, lunar, and space station missions.
The SPADEX mission scheduled for 2024-25 demonstrates autonomous _______ in Low Earth Orbit.
- Docking
- Landing
- Refueling
- Deorbiting
Answer: Docking
SPADEX (Space Docking Experiment) involves two small satellites performing rendezvous/docking, validating tech for Gaganyaan and future space stations.
Mars has polar ice caps composed of both water ice and dry ice (CO₂).
- True
- False
Answer: True
Martian polar caps contain layered water ice overlain by seasonal CO₂ frost; north cap retains summer water ice, south cap retains perennial CO₂.
Cepheid variables are important because their pulsation period correlates directly with _______.
- Surface temperature
- Luminosity
- Mass
- Age
Answer: Luminosity
Period-luminosity relation allows Cepheids to serve as standard candles for measuring galactic/extragalactic distances, foundational to Hubble's law.
Which ESA mission will study Jupiter's icy moons Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto?
- JUICE
- Europa Clipper
- Laplace
- JIMO
Answer: JUICE
JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) launched April 2023, arriving 2031 to study habitability of Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto.
The Regional Remote Sensing Service Centre (RRSC) for South Asia is hosted by India in _______.
- Dehradun
- Hyderabad
- Bengaluru
- New Delhi
Answer: Dehradun
RRSC-South Asia at IIRS Dehradun supports regional countries with remote sensing training/data under UN-ESCAP framework.
The Zarya module was the first component of the International Space Station launched in 1998.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Zarya (Functional Cargo Block) launched Nov 20, 1998, providing initial propulsion/power until Unity node arrived weeks later.
Frozen orbits maintain constant eccentricity and argument of periapsis, minimizing station-keeping for lunar satellites.
- True - used by Chandrayaan orbiter
- False - unstable near Moon
- True - only for Earth satellites
- False - requires continuous propulsion
Answer: True - used by Chandrayaan orbiter
Lunar frozen orbits (inclination ~27°, 50°, 76°, 86°) counteract mascon perturbations, enabling long-term stable orbits for Chandrayaan and LRO.
The Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) serve as a standard ruler for measuring _______.
- Stellar ages
- Cosmic expansion history
- Black hole masses
- Galaxy rotation speeds
Answer: Cosmic expansion history
BAO are frozen sound wave imprints in galaxy distribution (~150 Mpc scale), constraining dark energy and expansion rate across cosmic time.
Chandrayaan-3's Pragyan rover operated for approximately _______ Earth days on the lunar surface.
- 7
- 14
- 21
- 30
Answer: 14
Pragyan traversed ~100 m and operated for one lunar day (~14 Earth days) before entering sleep mode at lunar sunset; wake-up attempts failed.
Psyche is a metallic M-type asteroid targeted by a NASA mission launched in 2023.
- True
- False
Answer: True
NASA's Psyche mission launched Oct 2023 to explore the metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche, possibly a protoplanet's exposed core.
The Scramjet engine tested by ISRO in 2016 was integrated with which launch vehicle?
- PSLV
- GSLV
- RH-560 sounding rocket
- LVM3
Answer: RH-560 sounding rocket
ISRO's ATV-D01 scramjet test flew on RH-560 Mk III sounding rocket in Aug 2016, demonstrating supersonic combustion air-breathing propulsion.
Which space agency launched the Hayabusa2 asteroid sample return mission?
- NASA
- ESA
- JAXA
- CNSA
Answer: JAXA
JAXA's Hayabusa2 collected samples from asteroid Ryugu (2018-2019) and returned them to Earth in Dec 2020, advancing understanding of solar system origins.
The Jugnu nanosatellite developed by IIT Kanpur was launched in _______.
- 2009
- 2011
- 2013
- 2015
Answer: 2011
Jugnu, a 3 kg student satellite for agriculture/disaster monitoring, launched aboard PSLV-C18 in Oct 2011, pioneering academic space research in India.
Magnetars are neutron stars with extremely powerful magnetic fields (~10^14 Gauss).
- True
- False
Answer: True
Magnetars possess magnetic fields trillions of times stronger than Earth's, producing giant flares and soft gamma repeater bursts.
The Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment (CARE) validated re-entry technologies in which year?
- 2012
- 2014
- 2016
- 2018
Answer: 2014
CARE, launched atop LVM3-X in Dec 2014, tested ablative heat shield and parachute systems for Gaganyaan crew module recovery.
Which planet has a retrograde rotation AND a day longer than its year?
- Mercury
- Venus
- Uranus
- Neptune
Answer: Venus
Venus rotates east-to-west (retrograde) every 243 Earth days, while its orbital period is 225 days, making its sidereal day longer than its year.