Space – GK Questions

PRL was established in 1947 in Ahmedabad and serves as a premier research institute for space sciences, supported by ISRO and DST.

Phobos ('fear') and Deimos ('terror') are Mars' two small, irregularly shaped moons, likely captured asteroids.

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.

L1 is a gravitational equilibrium point between the Sun and Earth, approximately 1.5 million km from Earth toward the Sun, allowing continuous solar observation.

SpaceX is a private aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company founded by Elon Musk. NASA is the U.S. government agency.

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.

Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after liftoff on January 28, 1986, killing all seven crew members. The cause was O-ring failure in cold weather.

Observations of distant supernovae in the late 1990s revealed that cosmic expansion is accelerating, attributed to dark energy. This discovery won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics.

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.

HSFC was established in Bengaluru in 2019 to coordinate all aspects of India's human spaceflight programme, including astronaut training and mission management.

Unlike Saturn's bright rings, Jupiter's faint ring system was unknown until Voyager 1 imaged them in 1979. They consist mainly of dust particles.

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.

Chandra is a flagship NASA space telescope launched in 1999, dedicated to X-ray astronomy, observing high-energy phenomena like black holes and supernova remnants.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was formed on August 15, 1969, superseding the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) established in 1962.

Olympus Mons on Mars stands about 22 km high, nearly three times the height of Mount Everest, making it the largest known volcano in the solar system.

President John F. Kennedy declared this goal in a speech to Congress on May 25, 1961, initiating the Apollo program that culminated in the 1969 Moon landing.