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Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) convert heat from radioactive decay into electricity using which principle?
- Photovoltaic effect
- Seebeck effect
- Thermionic emission
- Piezoelectric effect
Answer: Seebeck effect
RTGs use thermocouples exploiting the Seebeck effect to generate electricity from temperature difference between hot Pu-238 fuel and cold space environment.
Adaptive optics in ground-based telescopes corrects atmospheric distortion using which component?
- Corrector plates
- Deformable mirrors
- Filter wheels
- Charge-coupled devices
Answer: Deformable mirrors
Deformable mirrors adjust shape hundreds of times per second based on wavefront sensor data, compensating for atmospheric turbulence in real-time.
Who was the first person to orbit Earth more than once?
- Yuri Gagarin
- Gherman Titov
- John Glenn
- Valentina Tereshkova
Answer: Gherman Titov
Titov orbited Earth 17 times aboard Vostok 2 in Aug 1961, spending over 25 hours in space, surpassing Gagarin's single orbit.
Ka-band frequencies (26-40 GHz) are increasingly used in satellite communications for which advantage?
- Lower rain fade
- Higher bandwidth capacity
- Longer wavelength penetration
- Reduced antenna size
Answer: Higher bandwidth capacity
Ka-band offers wider bandwidths enabling high-throughput broadband services, though susceptible to rain fade requiring adaptive coding/modulation.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe uses which planet's gravity assists to approach the Sun?
- Mercury
- Venus
- Earth
- Mars
Answer: Venus
Parker Solar Probe performs multiple Venus flybys to shrink its orbit and reduce perihelion distance, eventually reaching within 6.2 million km of the Sun.
Which planet has the highest albedo (reflectivity) in the solar system?
- Earth
- Venus
- Jupiter
- Saturn
Answer: Venus
Venus reflects ~75% of incoming sunlight due to thick sulfuric acid clouds, giving it the highest geometric albedo of any planet.
Which country's Chang'e-4 mission achieved the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon?
- USA
- Russia
- China
- India
Answer: China
Chang'e-4 landed in Von Kármán crater on Jan 3, 2019, using Queqiao relay satellite for communication, marking a historic first in lunar exploration.
The transit method detects exoplanets by observing which phenomenon?
- Stellar wobble
- Periodic dimming of starlight
- Direct imaging
- Gravitational lensing
Answer: Periodic dimming of starlight
When a planet passes in front of its host star, it blocks a tiny fraction of light, causing measurable brightness dips that reveal planet size and orbital period.
What specific impulse range do Hall-effect thrusters typically achieve compared to chemical rockets?
- Lower (<300 s)
- Similar (300-450 s)
- Higher (1000-3000 s)
- Much higher (>10,000 s)
Answer: Higher (1000-3000 s)
Hall thrusters achieve 1000-3000 s specific impulse versus 300-450 s for chemical rockets, enabling efficient station-keeping and orbit raising despite low thrust.
Which moon is known for having a subsurface ocean and geysers erupting from its south pole?
- Titan
- Enceladus
- Ganymede
- Io
Answer: Enceladus
Saturn's moon Enceladus ejects water vapor and ice grains from 'tiger stripe' fractures, confirming a global subsurface ocean and potential hydrothermal activity.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.