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[Space Tech] Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSAT Mrunal
[Space Tech] Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSAT
Prologue The Basics Basic: What does ISRO do? Basics: ISS Basics: Tiangong and Shenzhou Basics: Atlantis Space shuttle Basics: Soyuz spacecraft Basics: spacewalking Basics: Dragon capsule Basics: Anti-satellite missiles Space programs: India Indias Launch Vehicles: PSLV vs GSLV Indias Satellites: IRS vs INSAT ISROs 100th mission Indias own GPS: IRNSS GAGAN Space Vision India 2025 Cryogenic Engine Chandrayaan-1 Mars Mission Space programs: USA (NASA) USA: MARS related Curiosity Gale Crater Black Beauty NASA: Moon related Ebb and Flow, Sally Ride GRAIL LCROSS MoonKAMs NASA: Misc. Missions Space Programs: Russia Space Programs: China Beidou HXMT Shenzhous-10 Shenzhous-9 Space Programs: Other countries Telescopes Ground telescopes Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Solar telescope Space telescopes Herschel HXMT Kepler NuSTAR PIN: Persons in News (Space) Mock Questions
Prologue
Previous I released two Current Affairs compilations (2012-13) 1. Persons in news, books, sports, Misc.GK = click me
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[Space Tech] Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSAT Mrunal 1. Persons in news, books, sports, Misc.GK = click me 2. Defense, missiles etc= click me.
Now moving to the third article on the series: Space tech. For competitive exams, the Space tech is further divided into two parts: Part 1. Theory / static 2. Current affairs What? Basic info on planets, stars, supernova, big bang theory, blackholes etc. Various space programs, satellites telescopes, astronauts in news. Source NCERT science textbooks/ GS Manual / GK books. Newspaper, magazine, internet.
When it comes to MCQs (space tech): Both theory and current affairs are important for For SSC CGL (Tier 1), UPSC CSAT, CDS, NDA, CAPF, State PSC prelims exams. However, for IBPS, SBI, LIC type exams, they usually dont go into theory. If they want to ask space related questions, they generally ask it from the current affairs portion. When it comes to Descriptive paper (Mains) of UPSC / State PSC For space tech related questions, only current affairs is important (mostly 2 marker, 5 marker questions.) The theory portion doesnt come into picture, in the descriptive papers. The best way to prepare ^this (for mains)= maintain notes out of newspapers and magazines throughout the year, and revise it often. Mainly there are two types of players in competitive exam (based on their approach for Space-Tech): 1. Those who donot prepare space tech at all, thinking Thik haifor 2-3 marks, why bother at all!? 2. Those who prepare too much space tech e.g. On April 18, 2001, at 04.22PM, GSLV-1 was launched. Its weight was 1540 kg and height was 49m. Either approach is dangerous. Keep the middle path.
The Basics
before dwelling into ready revision of Space-Tech current affairs, Im going to write about a few basic concepts. Please note: following basics are not necessarily technically correct. Theyre just meant to help you visualize and remember things.
Basics: ISS
ISS= International space station. ISS is like a hostel in the space. Astronauts go there, stay for some weeks/ months do some observation, research, repairwork and come back home. US, Japan, Russia, Canada and many other countries have invested in this ISS space station. But China is not a partner in ISS project. China wants to build its own Space station. Thats were Shenzhous-9 and mrunal.org/2013/04/space-tech-current-affairs-compilation-2012-13-for-ssc-cgl-upsc-csat.html
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[Space Tech] Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSAT Mrunal
But China is not a partner in ISS project. China wants to build its own Space station. Thats were Shenzhous-9 and Tiangong-1 come into picture.
Basics: spacewalking
There are two types of missions/probes: Manned and unmanned. Manned = sending people into space. But what do people do in the space? They go to moon, hoist the flag of their nations, E.g. Neil Armstrong. They spend a few months on the international space station (ISS) or Heavenly Palace (Tiangong) or similar hostel (space station. E.g. Indias first astronaut Rakesh Sharma spent 8 days in a Russian space station. But often the outside body a spacecraft/hostel (space station) requires some repairing, maintenance or upgrades. So, when astronaut goes out of the spacecraft, wearing that white suit and ballon shaped helmet and does some walking/repairing work, that is known as spacewalk. Currently Sunita Williams holds the longest spacewalk record for females. (50+ hours). For males, it is Anatoly Solovyev (77+ hours). By the way, Sunita Williams also holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. (195 days).
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[Space Tech] Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSAT Mrunal
Banglore Shriharikota, Andhra. We usually launch satellites from here. (or from French Guiana in S.America). Ahmedabad Banglore
Now lets take a look at the satellites that have been in news recently (or mentioned in Yearbook) Aditya-1 Astrosate-1 CARTOSAT3 For studying Solar Coronas. For astronomy. ISRO is building this remote sensing satellite. It can take images of earth with resolution of 0.25 meters. Itll be used for cartography and high resolution mapping. Geo Imaging Satellite. Itll be positioned 36,000 kms above the earth. Itll be used for disaster management, border security. This is Indias heaviest satellite so far. It was ISROs 101st mission. It was launched French Guiana. It also carried second payload of GAGAN. (First payload of GAGAN was sent via GSAT-8). Itll increase Indias telecommunication signals. Indian Navy will also use it for communication. after serving for 13 years, this satellite completed its mission life in 2012. Weather satellite (meteorology), search and rescue operations. At present Indias meterological observation is done by two satellites Kalpana-1 and INSET 3A. This INSAT 3D is more powerful and advanced. RISAT-1 is Indias first radar imaging satellite It can scan the earth surface during both day and night, even in cloudy conditions. So it is an all weather satellite.
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GISAT
GSAT-10
GSAT-7 INSAT-2E
INSAT-3D
RISAT-1
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RISAT-1
[Space Tech] Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSAT Mrunal weather satellite. Use= paddy monitoring and management of natural disaster like flood and cyclone. It was launched using PSLV-XL launch vehicle.
SARAL
Indo-French satellite SARAL= Satellite with ARgos and ALtiKa. It was launched From Sriharikota, Andhra. Itll be used for marine meteorology, oceanography climate monitoring etc.
ISROs first mission was to send aryabhatta Satellite into space. But at that time we did not have our own launch vehicle, so we used a Russian launch vehicle. Today ISRO has both Satellite + Launch vehicle. And we not only send our own satellites, we also help other countries send their satellites into space, using our launch vehicles. (ofcourse after taking cash for providing the Taxi/courier service.) For these type of commercial activities, ISRO takes help of Antarix. Antarix is a Government owned company, it works as the marketing and commercial arm of ISRO.
Russia GLONASS. More discussed in earlier article click me To deploy a global navigation system, you need to setup lots of satellites hovering around the world, so they can scan and sent pinpoint location of anywhere to anywhere. During the Iraq war, the Americans sent wrong GPS navigation signals to the Iraqi jets and missiles, therefore Iraqis could not attack Americans forces in accurate manner. Moral of the story = Dont rely on other peoples navigation system. For the short term, We (India) are designing our missiles and fighter jets in such way that they can use both GPS (American) and GLONASS (Russian) signals for navigation. (so if we want to attack America or its ally, we can rely on GLONASS and vice versa.) But for long term, we will need our own GPS like system. Therefore, ISRO is developing IRNSS. IRNSS= Indian regional navigational satellite system. Now if you connect the dots: we need our own GPS (IRNSS) so we can accurately attack enemies. And we will need our own Anti-satellite missile, to shoot down satellites of enemies so their GPS cannot work accurately.
GAGAN
GPS aided geo augmented navigation (gagan) It is a joint effort by the ISRO and the Airports Authority Of India (AAI). Its main use is to help Air traffic control and helps pilots fly / land aircrafts in bad weather. But as the name suggests GPS aided meaning it is not a separate independent navigation system. It depends on GPS (American navigation system). Therefore we need IRNSS.
Cryogenic Engine
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Cryogenic engines work at very low temperature. ISRO is developing cryogenic engines 1. for GSLV launch vehicles. 2. for Chandrayaan-2 moon mission earlier ISRO had tried this in 2010 but it was an #EPICFAIL.
[Space Tech] Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSAT Mrunal
Chandrayaan-1
It was Indias first unmanned moon mission. It found evidence of water on Moon. It also did the surved the topography, craters, polar regions and environment of Moon. This happened in 2008 hence too old and too clichd to be asked for MCQs. ISRO is now working on Chandrayaan-2 joint programme with the Russian Federal Space Agency, But Russians suffered a setback due to their Phobos grunt mission.
Mars Mission
India planning a Mars mission similar to Curiosity mission of NASA. (probably in October/November 2013.) Mohan made official announcement about this during Independence day speech. Mars mission will be launched using PSLV-XL. PSLV-XL is the most powerful version of PSLV launch vehicle. Earlier it was used for Chandrayaan Mission, RISAT and GSAT-12. This leads to Essay / group discussion / interview topic that when millions of Indians are suffering from poverty and malnutrition, whats point of spending crores of rupees on Moon and Mars mission? But this article is written for MCQs, so lets not dwell into that for the moment.
Gale Crater
Located on Mars planet. Curiosity rover landed here and found signs that water may have flowed in the past through this Gale Crater.
Black Beauty
It is a 320 gram space rock from Mars. Discovered in Moroccos Sahara Desert in 2011 It contains more water than any other Martian meteorite previously found. could unlock vital clues to the evolution of Mars.
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[Space Tech] Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSAT Mrunal
But they did not have sufficient altitude or fuel to continue science operations. Hence NASA team crash-landed them on Moon in Dec 2012. The place where they crash landed is named after Sally K. Ride, Americas first woman astronaut. Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) To study the gravity field and geological structure of the Moon. NASAs Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing satellite, It has detected presence of water locked inside the soil of moon. MoonKAM= Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students. The MoonKams captures images of the moons surface and sends them to the students for study.
GRAIL LCROSS
MoonKAMs
Dragon Space X
NuSTAR
PREDICCS
Mars500 Joint experiments conducted by EU, Russia, China for sending human missions on Mars. Phobos Grunt Rus Soyuz rocket Mars has two moons. Phobos is the largest of them.Russian sent Phobos grunt mission to study it. But the spacecraft failed and crashed into Pacific ocean. Name of the two seater spaceship developed by Russia Launched from Kazakhstan, carried three astronauts to International space station (ISS), including Sunita Williams in 2012.
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[Space Tech] Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSAT Mrunal
Beidou
Before Beidou, only two countries had Navigation systems: USA= GPS and Russia= GLONASS. Beidou is Chinas own version of global navigation system. Project will be fully operational by 2020. Hard x-ray modulation telescope Chinas first space telescope. for studying blackholes. (recall that Americas NuSTAR is also meant for studying blackholes). Chinas next manned space mission. It will also carry Chinese astronauts to Tiangong-1. It means divine Vessel. Manned space mission of China. It carried Chinas first woman astronaut Liu Yang to an orbiting module Tiangong-1. Tiangong-1 means Heavenly palace- it is Chinas prototype for future space station similar to ISS. For crop assessment and disaster management. It is chinas new military communication satellite.
HXMT Shenzhous10
Shenzhous-9
Yaogan Chinasat
Korea
Iran
Telescopes
There are two types of telescopes: 1. Those on the ground (e.g. SKA, Solar telescope in Ladakh) and 2. Those in the space. (Kepler, NuSTAR, HXMT and Herschel.) ^this list is not exhaustive, but these telescopes were in news recently.
Ground telescopes
worlds largest and most sensitive radio telescope will be completed in 2024 Will be setup in South Africa and Australia. Applications: signal transport, signal processing, computing, software and data archiving India is actively involved in this project Also known as National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) Will be built in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir by Dept of Science and Technology. This will be worlds largest solar telescope. Can work in both day and night. Will help in understanding sunspots: process of their creation and decay. Sunspots and solar winds pose a threat to the communication system on earth as well as space satellites.
Solar telescope
Space telescopes
largest space telescope ever launched (2009) It is named after Sir William Herschel who had discovered Uranus planet. This telescope is in news, because soon its onboard liquid helium supply will be exhausted
Herschel
EU+US
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Herschel
[Space Tech] Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSATwill Mrunal This telescope is in news, because soon its onboard liquid helium supply be exhausted and itll stop working. Helium is required to cool the instruments on Herschele space telescope.
EU+US
HXMT
Chinas first space telescope. for studying blackholes. (recall that Americas NuSTAR is also meant for studying blackholes).
China
Kepler
Launched in 2009. To discover earth like planets. US Kepler was a German astronomer who gave laws to describe the motion of planets around the Sun. NuSTAR (the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) It is a space-based X-ray telescope. NASA launched this under Pegasus mission. NuSTAR telescope will use high power X-rays to locate black holes, collapsed stars and supernova remnants.
NuSTAR
US
Dr. K. Radhakrishnan ISRO Chairman. Finally two topics: 1. CERN, God particle= http://mrunal.org/2012/08/snt-cern.html 2. Blue Moon= http://mrunal.org/2012/08/snt-blue-moon.html Ok so these were the notable Space tech related events/ terms happened during Jan 2012 to March 2013. If you feel any important thing was missed, or if there is any correction, do write it in the comments below.
Mock Questions
1. Which of the following country is not associated with International space station? a. Canada b. Russia c. Japan d. China 2. Correct Statements a. Tiangong-1 is the experimental space telescope of China. b. Shenzhou-9 is the name of Chinese space station c. Both d. None 3. Longest spacewalk record for Female Astronauts is held by a. Kalpana Chawla b. Sally James c. Liu Yang d. Sunita Williams 4. Which of the following is not a telescope? a. Hubble b. Kepler c. NuStar d. Beidou 5. Incorrect Statement a. Antrix is a privately owned company of Airtel. b. Antrix is the commerical and Marketing arm of ISRO c. Both d. None 6. Find Incorrect Match a. French Guiana=in North Africa b. Satish Dhawan Space centre=Banglore c. Physics Research lab= Pune
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[Space Tech] Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSAT Mrunal c. Physics Research lab= Pune d. All of above Correct Statements about Dragon Capsule a. It was designed by Nasa b. It was used for delivering cargo to International space station. c. Both d. None Incorrect Statements a. Indian Remote Sensing satellites are launched using GSLV. b. Indian National satellites are launched using PSLV. c. Both d. None Correct Statements about PSLV-XL a. It is a launch vehicle, used in Chandrayaan. b. Itll be used in Indias Mars Mission. c. Both d. None Incorrect statements about Indian remote sensing satellites a. They are used for monitering natural resources. b. Theyre launched using GSLV. c. CARTOSAT and RISAT are examples of Remote sensing satellites. d. None of Above. Incorrect Match a. Aditya: Solar Coronas b. Cartosat-3: high resolution mapping c. GSAT-10: Indias heaviest satellite so far d. SARAL: Indo-Japanese Tsunami prediction satellite. Correct Match a. Spot-6: Japan b. Proiteres: France c. Beidou: Japan d. None of above Find the Odd sequence a. GLONASS, Beidou, IRNSS b. NuSTAR, HXMT, Herschel c. GAGAN, PISHGAM, SARAL d. None of Above which of the following country doesnt have its own Global Navigation system? a. Russia b. China c. Japan d. None of Above which of the following is not the main aim of ISROs Space vision 2025? a. Develop reusable launch vehicles b. Develop Indias own space station. c. Send humans to space d. Use satellites for rural connectivity, security and mobile services. Name of the mission under which Nasa sent a rover to Mars in 2011? a. MSL b. Curiosity c. Pegasus d. None of Above Gale Crater is located in
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a. Mercury b. Saturn c. Mars d. Moon 18. Black Beauty is a space rock from a. Moon b. Mars c. Saturn d. Mercury 19. Who/ What is Sally Ride? a. First female astronaut of USA b. A Place on Moon where two NASA spacecrafts crash-landed. c. Both of above d. None of Above 20. What is the purpose of GRAIL mission? a. Study the gravity field of Moon
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a. Study the gravity field of Moon b. Study the gravity field of Mars c. Study the gravity field of Mercury d. Study the gravity field of Venus Correct Statement a. Titan is one of the moon of Mars b. Phobos is one of the moon of Saturn c. Both d. None What is/ are common between NuSTAR and HXMT a. Both will are space telescopes used for finding black holes. b. Both are launched by NASA under Pegasus mission. c. Both A and B d. Neither A or B Beidou is the a. Space station of China b. Mars mission of China c. Global navigation system of China d. None of above Worlds Largest radio telescope: a. Herschel b. HXMT c. Hubbles d. Square Kilometer Array In 2012, Sunita Williams went to ISS using which of the following spacecraft? a. Atlantis b. Discovery c. Soyuz d. None of Above Previous Posts
[Space Tech] Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSAT Mrunal
[Policy] Science Technology & Innovation (STI) Policy 2013: Salient features, highlights, criticism [Defense] Current Affairs compilation 2012-13: missiles, joint exercises, operations, organizations [Hindu Sci-Tech] Public Health, EnB related: Virtopsy, Vomitting Larry, Hydrogel, Mauritia (Jan Feb 2013) [Hindu Sci-Tech] Space, IT related: KSLV, Luna Glob, Black Beauty, COMET, SKA, SAGA-220 (Jan, Feb 2013) [Science] TheHindu Dec12: Asteroid Mining, GRAIL, MoonKAMs, Liquiglide, Oraquick and more Science-Tech for UPSC CSAT [Science] No Touch Breastscan, Chemin, TLS, CFL vs Tubelight choke etc from The Hindu S&T, Nov 2012 [Public Health] GeneXpert, Project Axshya, MALDI, Dermoscope, Bariatric Surgery, Neurostimulator [Public Health] ENCODE, GPCR, LNT, Disease in Dish, RNTCP & other 2/5 markers from The Hindu S&T (Sept-Oct 2012) [Science] SCOAP3, Electronic Nose, Baxter, Lytro [Science] PREDICCS, LCROSS, HXMT, Life on Mars (Space related S&T from Hindu Sept-Oct-2012)
95 comments to [Space Tech] Current Affairs Compilation 2012-13 for SSC CGL, UPSC CSAT
Older Comments
kunal
Reply to this comment Mrunal sir when are you going to give remaining chapters on economic servey?
kk
Reply to this comment There is a small typo, one of the uses of the Kepler telescope is to look out for earth-like planets, not plants :-)
Aarav
Reply to this comment Mrunal Bhai , You are doing a great job . Keep it Up !
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