Which of the following was NOT a scientific payload of India's Mars Orbiter Mission?
- A.Mars Colour Camera
- B.Methane Sensor for Mars
- C.Lyman Alpha Photometer
- D.Moon Mineralogy Mapper
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is D, Moon Mineralogy Mapper. That instrument belonged to Chandrayaan 1, the lunar mission of 2008, and it was the one whose data confirmed water molecules on the Moon. It has nothing to do with Mars, and its name alone should give it away in a list of Martian instruments.
Option A, the Mars Colour Camera, was a real payload and sent back the full disc images of the planet that became the best known pictures of the mission. Option B, the Methane Sensor for Mars, looked for methane in the Martian atmosphere, a gas that can point to biological or geological activity. Option C, the Lyman Alpha Photometer, measured hydrogen and deuterium in the upper atmosphere to study how Mars lost its water. The remaining payloads were the Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer and the Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser, making five in all.
Read the full article: Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan: India's Moon and Mars Missions
Practice Questions
View allChandrayaan 1, India's first mission to the Moon, was launched in which year?
- A.2005
- B.2008
- C.2013
- D.2019
Show answer
Chandrayaan 1 was launched on 22 October 2008 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota and reached lunar orbit within a fortnight.
Read the full explanation →Which launch vehicle carried Chandrayaan 1 into orbit?
- A.PSLV C11
- B.GSLV Mark Three
- C.SLV 3
- D.LVM3 M4
Show answer
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in its extended configuration carried Chandrayaan 1 on 22 October 2008. The same family of rockets, in the C25 flight, later carried the Mars Orbiter Mission in 2013, which shows how much the Indian space programme achieved with a medium lift vehicle.
Read the full explanation →The presence of water molecules on the Moon was confirmed using data from which instrument carried by Chandrayaan 1?
- A.Moon Impact Probe
- B.Moon Mineralogy Mapper
- C.Orbiter High Resolution Camera
- D.Lyman Alpha Photometer
Show answer
This imaging spectrometer, supplied by the United States space agency and flown on the Indian orbiter, measured how sunlight reflected from the lunar surface and found the absorption signature of water molecules and hydroxyl, especially towards the poles.
Read the full explanation →Chandrayaan 2 was launched in July 2019 on which rocket?
- A.PSLV C25
- B.GSLV Mark Three
- C.ASLV
- D.PSLV C11
Show answer
Chandrayaan 2 lifted off on 22 July 2019 on the heaviest Indian rocket then flying, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark Three, which has since been renamed LVM3.
Read the full explanation →What are the names of the lander and the rover of the Chandrayaan missions?
- A.Aryabhata and Bhaskara
- B.Vikram and Pragyan
- C.Rohini and Apple
- D.Aditya and Mangal
Show answer
The lander is named Vikram after Vikram Sarabhai, the physicist who founded the Indian space programme and is called its father.
Read the full explanation →