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Valles Marineris is a vast canyon system located on which celestial body?
- Moon
- Venus
- Mars
- Mercury
Answer: Mars
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.
Which country operates the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System?
- Japan
- South Korea
- China
- India
Answer: China
BeiDou is China's global satellite navigation system, operational since 2020, providing positioning, navigation, and timing services worldwide.
How many astronauts (Gaganauts) are planned for the first crewed Gaganyaan mission?
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Answer: 3
The first crewed Gaganyaan mission plans to carry three Indian astronauts to a 400 km orbit for up to three days.
Comet NEOWISE was visible to the naked eye from Earth in which year?
- 2018
- 2020
- 2022
- 2024
Answer: 2020
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.
Stellar-mass black holes typically form from the collapse of stars with initial masses greater than _______ solar masses.
- 5
- 10
- 20
- 50
Answer: 20
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.
Which space telescope discovered the TRAPPIST-1 system with seven Earth-sized planets?
- Kepler
- TESS
- Spitzer
- James Webb
Answer: Spitzer
While initial discoveries came from ground-based TRAPPIST telescopes, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope confirmed and characterized the seven-planet system in 2017.
GAGAN is an augmentation system for which global navigation system?
- GLONASS
- GPS
- Galileo
- BeiDou
Answer: GPS
GAGAN (GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation) enhances GPS accuracy for aviation and other applications over India using geostationary satellites.
What is the closest star to the Sun?
- Sirius
- Proxima Centauri
- Alpha Centauri A
- Barnard's Star
Answer: Proxima Centauri
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.
Which Indian satellite provides exclusive services for disaster management support?
- Resourcesat
- Cartosat
- INSAT-3DR
- EOS-04
Answer: INSAT-3DR
INSAT-3DR and INSAT-3DS are dedicated meteorological satellites with enhanced capabilities for disaster monitoring, cyclone tracking, and search-and-rescue support.
Enceladus, known for its water vapor plumes, is a moon of which planet?
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
- Neptune
Answer: Saturn
Enceladus ejects water vapor and ice particles from fractures near its south pole, indicating a subsurface ocean. It is a key target for astrobiology.
The Perseverance rover landed in which crater on Mars in February 2021?
- Gale Crater
- Jezero Crater
- Endeavour Crater
- Victoria Crater
Answer: Jezero Crater
Perseverance landed in Jezero Crater, an ancient river delta site chosen for its potential to preserve biosignatures and organic molecules.
Which ISRO launch vehicle was used to launch Chandrayaan-1?
- ASLV
- PSLV-C11
- GSLV Mk II
- LVM3
Answer: PSLV-C11
Chandrayaan-1 was launched aboard PSLV-C11 on October 22, 2008, from Sriharikota. PSLV-XL variant was used for heavier payload capacity.
The Pleiades star cluster is also commonly known as the _______.
- Seven Sisters
- Big Dipper
- Southern Cross
- Hunter's Belt
Answer: Seven Sisters
The Pleiades, or Messier 45, is an open star cluster in Taurus, traditionally called the Seven Sisters in Greek mythology and many cultures worldwide.
Chandrayaan-3's Pragyan rover confirmed the presence of which element on the lunar surface near the south pole?
- Gold
- Sulphur
- Uranium
- Platinum
Answer: Sulphur
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.
Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano in the solar system, is located on which planet?
- Earth
- Venus
- Mars
- Io
Answer: Mars
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.
Which U.S. President announced the goal of landing a man on the Moon before the decade was out?
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- John F. Kennedy
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Richard Nixon
Answer: John F. Kennedy
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.
The crew escape system tested for Gaganyaan is designed to pull the crew module away safely during which phase?
- Re-entry only
- Launch abort scenarios
- Orbital operations
- Landing
Answer: Launch abort scenarios
The Crew Escape System (CES) is designed to rapidly separate the crew module from the launch vehicle in case of emergencies during ascent, ensuring astronaut safety.
Trojan asteroids share their orbit with which planet?
- Mars
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Earth
Answer: Jupiter
Jupiter trojans are asteroids that share Jupiter's orbit around the Sun, clustered near the stable Lagrange points L4 and L5, 60° ahead and behind the planet.
Dark matter constitutes approximately what percentage of the total mass-energy content of the universe?
- 5%
- 27%
- 68%
- 95%
Answer: 27%
Current cosmological models estimate dark matter makes up ~27% of the universe, dark energy ~68%, and ordinary (baryonic) matter ~5%.
Which mission successfully landed on Titan, Saturn's moon, in 2005?
- Cassini
- Huygens
- Galileo
- Juno
Answer: Huygens
The Huygens probe, part of the Cassini-Huygens mission, landed on Titan on January 14, 2005, providing the first direct data from the outer solar system's surface.