What is the primary objective of the Chandra Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) payload?
- A.To assess the Moon geological composition
- B.To measure the vertical temperature profile of the lunar regolith
- C.To measure the Moon atmospheric pressure
- D.To study the Moon magnetic field
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, to measure the vertical temperature profile of the lunar regolith. ChaSTE was carried on the Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-3. It has a probe fitted with a set of temperature sensors, which was pushed into the lunar soil to a depth of about ten centimetres near the south polar region. From its readings scientists can see how heat moves through the top layer of the Moon, which tells them about the thermal properties of the soil at a place never measured before.
Option A, the geological composition, was the task of the two instruments on the Pragyan rover, which used alpha particles and a laser to find the elements in the soil. Option C is wrong because the Moon has only an extremely thin envelope of gas rather than an atmosphere with measurable pressure of the usual kind. Option D, the magnetic field, was not the aim of ChaSTE; the lander instead carried instruments to record moonquakes and to study the plasma near the surface.
Read the full article: Aditya-L1 and Space Science Missions: Notes and MCQs
Practice Questions
View allIn which year did Captain Rakesh Sharma travel to space in a Soviet space programme?
- A.1981
- B.1982
- C.1983
- D.1984
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Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma flew in April 1984 aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz T-11 as part of a joint programme between the Soviet Union and India, and spent about eight days aboard the Salyut 7 space station.
Read the full explanation →Which of the followings has been dubbed as India maiden human spaceflight programme?
- A.Mangalyaan II
- B.Gaganyaan
- C.Chandrayaan II
- D.Aditya L-1
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Gaganyaan is the programme under which the Indian Space Research Organisation is preparing to send Indian astronauts into a low orbit around the Earth in a crew module of its own and bring them back safely.
Read the full explanation →The first pico satellite of India is:
- A.INSAT
- B.STUDSAT
- C.GSAT-4
- D.ANUSAT
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STUDSAT, short for Student Satellite, was the first pico satellite built in India. A pico satellite is one that weighs under about one kilogram, and STUDSAT weighed less than that.
Read the full explanation →In the year 2021, DRDO launched which satellite by PSLV-C51 to enhance India surveillance capability in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR)?
- A.Satish Dhawan Satellite
- B.Sindhu Netra Satellite
- C.Sindhu Durga Satellite
- D.Sri Shakti Satellite
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Sindhu Netra was developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation and was placed in orbit in February 2021 by the PSLV-C51 flight, the same flight whose main payload was the Amazonia-1 satellite of Brazil.
Read the full explanation →Aditya-L1, the first Indian solar observatory, was launched by which vehicle?
- A.GSLV Mk II
- B.PSLV-C57
- C.LVM3-M4
- D.SSLV-D2
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Aditya-L1 was launched on 2 September 2023 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota by the PSLV-C57 flight, which used the most powerful version of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
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