Science and Technology Set 1

 

CIVIL SERVICES (MAINS)EXAMINATION (Paper III) 2024 Model Questions

 

TSPSC GROUP – 1 MAINS EXAM (Paper IV), 2024

 

(Prepared on 10.9.2024 )

Prepared by :

Praturi Potayya Sarma MA,LLB,PGDIRP

 

GENERAL STUDIES / Model Questions based on (Current Affairs)

TOPICS: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

 

TOPIC: SPACE RESEARCH

 

 

1)What is LVM-3 rocket?

 

Ans:

*Cryogenic hydrogen and cryogenic oxygen power the third stage of ISRO’s LVM-3 rocket .

*Cryogenics is the science of materials at temperatures below negative ( i.e., minus) 153 degrees C.

*The technologies by which materials are cooled up to this temperature are collected under the term refrigeration.

*Instead, cryogenics deals with thermal conditions in which even the substances that we encounter in our daily lives as gases — such as hydrogen, nitrogen and, of course, the air in our atmosphere — are liquid.

*This field typically uses helium and nitrogen as the cryogenic fluid, the thing that cools a substance.

*Nitrogen has a boiling point of negative 196 degrees C, and helium, negative 269 degrees C. So below these temperatures, they are liquid. Such fluids need to be stored in vacuum flasks or they could leak and damage their surroundings.

*Many cryogenic materials have desirable properties.

(i)For example, hydrogen is one of the best rocket fuels but it can only be used as a liquid, so it needs to be cryogenically cooled.

(ii)(Cryogenic hydrogen and cryogenic oxygen power the third stage of ISRO’s LVM-3 rocket.) In the process of cryogenic hardening, a material — steel in particular — can be made harder and stronger.

(iii)This is because as it is cooled to around negative 185 degrees C, more of the steel’s crystal structure acquires the martensite configuration.

(iv)Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices used in medical diagnostics use cryogenic fluids to cool their magnets.

 

 

=========================================================================

 

Question: What is Solar Wind and CMEs?

Ans:

- Along with sunlight and electromagnetic radiation, such as ultraviolet rays, the Sun emits a constant stream of charged particles and a mixture of solar magnetic fields that travel throughout interplanetary space. Called a solar wind, the average speed of the flow near the Earth is about 300 kilometres per second.

- The solar wind constantly rams the Earth’s magnetosphere, which functions like a shield and deflects most of it. Nevertheless, the energetic particles from the solar wind sneak through the weak magnetic regions of the Earth — the north and south poles and interact with the molecules in the atmosphere, creating the dazzling display of aurora.

- Violent eruptions like solar flares and CMEs trigger a strong wind or solar storm. A geomagnetic storm occurs when the solar storm bashes the Earth’s magnetosphere.

- While brilliant, beautiful auroras appear as more energetic particles flow through the north and south poles, GPS and short-wave communication are disrupted, and the electronics in the satellite are in danger.

- Intense geomagnetic storms can induce magnetic-induced currents in the power grid and pipelines, resulting in power outages and fire. The energy from the charged particles heats the upper atmosphere, increasing the density and causing extra drag on satellites in low-earth orbit.

 

===========================================================================

 

 

Question : 3) Aditya L1 is called as space weather station . In which areas  Aditya L1 will conduct experiments/data collects?

 

Ans:

*The changes in the solar wind’s density, speed and direction is called space weather. Solar storms result in inclement space weather.

*Aditya L1 will function as a space weather station.

*The Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX) developed by the ISRO’s Ahmedabad-based Physical Research Laboratory, the Plasma Analyser Package For Aditya (PAPA) developed by the Thiruvananthapuram based Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and the advanced Tri-axial High-Resolution Digital Magnetometers developed by the Bengaluru based ISRO’s Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems keep a constant watch over the parameters of space weather near Aditya L1. Using the data from these instruments, scientists can predict probable geomagnetic storms and better understand space weather dynamics.

*“Near Earth environ is filled with hundreds of satellites and the change in the space weather can affect them directly. The trajectory can be deflected by impact of a solar storm on upper atmosphere. ISRO alone has 50,000 crore worth of space assets,”

* Understanding space weather is an international issue, and the data from Adtiya L1 will aid in making models and predicting storms in advance.

============================================================================

 

 

Question : 4)What is Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)? What is the target of Aditya L1?

 

Ans:

*At times, the Sun sneezes. Like a tongue of fire, a chunk of the corona suddenly accelerates and leaps into interplanetary space. Called Coronal Mass ejection (CME), this cloud consisting of billion tonnes of energetic plasma mixed with a solar magnetic field is hurled at 250 kilometres per second to 3,000 km/s.

*Usually, the corona is not visible in the glare of the radiant Sun, except during the brief moment of a total solar eclipse. However, solar physicists can create artificial eclipses in the solar telescope, called coronograph, to observe the corona.

*Hitherto, no space telescope could peer at the inner corona, closer to the Sun. “They could look at either 1.1 solar radii or larger,” says a Professor of Solar Physic at the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics. “However, theoretical study indicates that the acceleration of the coronal mass ejection happens below 1.1 solar radii,” .

*With no insight into the solar corona’s inner part dynamics, we are yet to fully understand the mechanism that drives the CMEs.

*The Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) developed by the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics in close collaboration with the ISRO can peek as close as 1.05 solar radii, a region never imaged by any solar telescope. From 1.05, it can scan upto three solar radii. With this unique capability of VELC, “we can get crucial information about the mechanism responsible for CME acceleration.”

==============================================================================

 

Question : 5) Which are called as Sunspots?

Ans :

*Like a heartbeat, solar activity is measured in terms of the number of sunspots.

*Sunspots are cooler regions on the Sun’s surface which increase and decrease in a cycle of 11 years.

*When the Sun is active, the number of sunspots is in the hundreds, and at solar minimum, the numbers are nearly zero.

*However, according to Pune-based Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, “despite the variation in solar activity, the emission in visible and long wavelengths is nearly steady. Whatever changes we observe in the solar radiation, nearly 80% occur in the ultraviolet range” .

*The Earth’s upper atmosphere absorbs most of the solar UV rays. “The absorbed energy affects the atmosphere’s composition, temperature and other parameters. It is imperative to know how far variation in the UV rays emitted by the Sun contributes to climate variability on Earth” .

*The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) developed by the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics, in close collaboration with the ISRO, the Center of Excellence in Space Sciences India, Mohanpur, the Manipal Academy of Higher Education etc, will observe the UV radiation from different zones of the solar atmosphere.

*The onboard intelligence system will detect any sudden appearance of bright spots, such as solar flares (a sudden burst of high energy visible light, UV rays, X rays and Gamma rays) on the disc. The automated system will trigger the rapid imaging of different layers, and thus, we will obtain a 3D tomographic view of the Sun. “With this system in place, the event’s progression through the layers of the solar atmosphere can be imaged.”.

*Combining the data from the Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS) and the High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS) developed by the ISRO’s Bengaluru based U. R. Rao Satellite Centre with SUIT, “ can [help us] gain insights into the emergence, progression and energetics of transient events on the surface of the Sun in the UV region”.

*Observing the Sun using the SUIT will enable us to better understand climate variation on Earth. “Earth’s climate has definitely changed. Global warming is real. The data from SUIT and other papers of Aditya L1 will help us resolve the contribution of natural and anthropogenic factors driving climate change.”

 

===============================================================================

 

Question : 6)”Atmosphere of the Sun is an enigma.” What Aditya L1 will observe?

Ans :

*Usually when we huddle near a fire, we feel warm and as we move away, that warmth is reduced.

*But surprisingly the sun and its atmosphere don’t follow this rule. Made up of a soup of positively charged protons, negatively charged electrons and other ions mixed with the solar magnetic field, extending somewhere between 10 and 20 solar radii from the surface of the Sun, the solar corona, the atmosphere of the Sun is an enigma.

*While the surface of the Sun is 5,600 degrees, the corona, interestingly, is about two million degrees.

*“We have some idea of why it is so, but the problem is not fully resolved,” says  Director of Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES).

*“Observations from Adtiya L1 will help us understand the dynamics of the Sun and how solar variability impacts the climate on Earth and affects the space weather.”

=====================================================================================

 

Question : 7)What is  Langrange Point  ? Give details

 

Ans:

It is discovered by mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange. L1 (Langrange 1) is one of the five points located approximately 1.5 million kilometres away, where the gravitational forces of the Sun and the Earth are in equilibrium.

* Hence, a spacecraft placed at L1 orbits the Sun at the same rate as Earth and affords an uninterrupted view of the Sun, making it an ideal observation post for space-based solar observatories.

*The L1 is currently home to the European Space Agency (ESA)- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) observing the Sun and its dynamics.

*Aditya L1 will join this observatory to unravel the mysteries of the dynamics of the Sun.

*Launched on September 2, 2023 the craft will undergo five orbit-raising manoeuvres before being slingshot to the L1 point.

*The ship  coasted for about four months before it reached L1. At that stage, the thrusters will be fired to make the craft circle around the L1, placing it in what is known as a halo orbit around L1.

*From this vantage point, Aditya L1 can observe the Sun 24X7 using its four remote sensing payloads, and measure in-situ the various parameters of space weather.

 

=========================================================================

 

Question : 8)In respect of  Gaganyaan, what is progress ? Who is Vyommitra ?

 

Ans :

* On February 27,2024 Prime Minister  publicised the final shortlist of candidates to be astronauts on board the maiden human spaceflight mission — called Gaganyaan — of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

* Assuming two important test flights this year and the next are successful, the first crewed flight of the mission is scheduled for 2025.

* The crew: Of the first four astronaut candidates, Prashant Nair, Ajit Krishnan, and Angad Pratap are group captains and Shubanshu Shukla is a wing commander, all in the Indian Air Force (IAF).

*When Gaganyaan was approved, the IAF prepared a longlist of candidates, who were trained at the IAF’s Institute of Aerospace Medicine. A subsequent shortlist of candidates were sent to Russia for advanced training.

*The crew module will include a gynoid (feminine robot) named ‘Vyommitra’ fit with sensors to track the effects of radiation and weightlessness, monitor capsule conditions, and sound alarms in the event of an impending emergency, aside from being able to perform some other tasks.

 

================================================================================

 

 

 

Question : 9) Gaganyaan comprises of which   components aside from the HSFC?

Ans :

 

1)The Launch Vehicle Mark-3: The LVM-3 is the launch vehicle. Formerly called the GSLV Mk-III, it is a three-stage rocket.

i) The first stage comprises of two solid-fuel boosters strapped to the rocket core.

ii)The second stage is powered by two liquid-fuelled and clustered Vikas 2 engines.

iii)The third stage has the CE-20 indigenous cryogenic engine with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as fuel and oxidiser, respectively.

2)The orbital module: The 8.2-tonne orbital module is the object the LVM-3 rocket will launch and place in low-earth orbit.

i) It consists of the crew module and the service module.

ii)The crew module can house up to three astronauts for a week. It includes parachutes to slow its descent to the ground once it descends from orbit; an environmental control and life-support system (ECLSS; to control the temperature, breathing environment, waste disposal, fire protection, etc.); and the crew escape system, which the astronauts can use to escape in case the rocket malfunctions during its ascent.

iii)The service module contains the propulsion system required to raise the orbital module’s altitude once it separates from the rocket and later to propel it back towards the earth.

================================================================

 

Question : 10) What is SRE and CARE (in Gaganyaan)?

Ans :

1)ISRO had realised many of the underlying technologies by the time the Union Cabinet approved Gaganyaan in 2018. Post-approval, it proceeded to human-rate many of them, that is, ensure their reliability met the minimum thresholds for human spaceflight.

2)ISRO had already conducted the ‘Space Capsule Recovery Experiment’ (SRE) in 2007 and the ‘Crew-module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment’ (CARE) in 2014.

3) In 2007, a satellite placed in orbit earlier descended from an altitude of 635 km to splash into the Bay of Bengal.

4)In 2014, a prototype of the module was launched onboard an LVM-3 rocket. It separated at an altitude of 126 km, descended until 80 km with retrograde thrusters, and finally with parachutes into the Bay of Bengal.

5) Together, SRE and CARE tested the module’s separation mechanism, heat shield, braking system, parachutes, floatation devices (in the water), and retrieval procedures.

6)ISRO conducted a similar test on October 21 last year — a crew module was launched on a small rocket before being ejected using an ‘emergency abort’ command, followed by testing its descent and retrieval.

7)In October 2023, ISRO chairman said that there was no domestic capability to manufacture the crew module and that it will have to be procured “from outside”. He also said ISRO’s hope to source technologies related to the ECLSS from abroad didn’t fructify, forcing the organisation’s engineers to develop them internally. Other major components, including the engines and the rocket stages, underwent similar tests of their own until ISRO could sign off on their reliability. This has happened through a series of tests, simulations, and quality-control exercises. For example, ISRO said on February 21 it had finished testing four CE-20 engines for 8,810 seconds in all, in conditions mimicking those during the flight.

 

===============================================================================

 

Question : 11) There are wide ranging reforms in the space sector. Give details

 

Ans :

1)The birth of NSIL and IN-SPACe followed wide-ranging reforms of the space sector.

2)They were joined by the National Geospatial Policy 2022, the Indian Space Policy 2023, and the Telecommunications Act 2023.

3) In a fillip to India’s nascent space startups scene, the Cabinet also cleared 49% to 100% automatic foreign direct investment in space services and spaceflight.

4)The Space Policy in particular provides an overview of what the Indian space programme will aim for in the coming decades as India joins a host of countries going to space, the moon, and beyond while conducting scientific, commercial, and exploratory missions.

5)This new ‘space race’ extends geopolitical boundaries drawn on the earth into outer space. The result is a heavy premium on the human presence of different nationalities for longer durations in space and on the moon.

6)Against this backdrop, Gaganyaan will establish India’s self-sufficiency vis-à-vis sending humans to space, on timelines it can control, instead of relying on expensive contracts with foreign launch services — and in step with other efforts to represent India in the final frontier.

================================================================================

 

 

Question: 12) Give details about  uncrewed Gaganyan test flight (G1)?

Ans :

1)LVM-3 rockets using the CE-20 in the third stage — where the first stage comprises two solid-fuel boosters and the second stage, two liquid-fuelled Vikas 2 engines — have already launched the Chandrayaan-2 and -3 missions and the 5.8-tonne payload of the commercial OneWeb mission in 2022.

2)Next stop: the first uncrewed Gaganyaan test flight, designated G1, which ISRO has tentatively scheduled for mid-2024.

 

 

==================================================================

 

 

Question : 12) What is CE-20 rocket engine ?

Ans :

1)On February 21,2024 the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) reported it had successfully completed human-rating the CE-20 rocket engine ahead of its use in an important test flight later this year of the country’s mission to launch an Indian astronaut to space onboard an Indian rocket.

2)The CE-20 is an indigenous cryogenic engine ISRO developed to use with the GSLV Mk III, now called the LVM-3, launch vehicle. It represents an improvement on the CE-7.5 cryogenic engine and is instrumental to ISRO successfully realising its human spaceflight, a.k.a. Gaganyaan, mission.

3)Engineers prefer to use liquid fuels for rocket motors because they are less bulky and flow better than solid fuels. Using hydrogen as fuel is also desirable because when it is combusted, it generates the highest exhaust velocity.

 

4)For example, combusting hydrogen with oxygen as the oxidiser results in an exhaust velocity of 4.5 km/s whereas that produced by unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide — the combination used by the second stage of the PSLV rocket, e.g. — is around 3.4 km/s. This is why hydrogen is a desirable fuel for rocket motors

 

==============================================================================

 

Question: 13) “Moon landing are picking up pace”. Give some details about it .

Ans :

 

1)Moon landings are picking up pace for the second time in history, but now with more countries and novel definitions of success in the mix.

 

2)Chandrayaan-3’s soft-landing confirmed that the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) understanding of the technologies and processes involved and the choices it made — as an impressive space research and flight provider emerging from colonial shadows — are correct.

 

3)Similarly, the failure of the Luna 25 mission would have taught Russia’s Roscosmos something about what it got wrong, particularly as a space agency whose reputation is on the wane after spectacular highs.

 

4) U.S.-based Intuitive Machines (IM) became the first private company to soft-land a robotic craft on the moon. The success of many space service providers in the U.S. is rooted in crucial support from NASA in their formative years. This is true in IM’s case as well, but with important distinctions. IM launched its Odysseus lander to the moon as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme, through which the agency is funding instruments onboard commercial missions to the moon hoping their findings will ease NASA’s eventual return to the natural satellite.

 

5)IM’s Odysseus itself had a rocky last leg of the journey: as its descent got under way, the lander’s navigation instruments glitched, forcing IM engineers to quickly cobble together a fix and transmit it to the craft, instructing it to switch to an experimental NASA instrument onboard. After this hotfix, Odysseus appeared to have soft landed, but no confirmation was readily forthcoming due to a weak data link between the craft and antennae on the earth. The next day, IM said Odysseus may have tipped over but without consequence to most of its payloads, including six from NASA, and solar panels.

6)IM’s success testifies to the potential of the CLPS programme and could help extend it in future. NASA’s say in CLPS missions is limited to flagging interesting landing sites and providing some payloads. By 2020, it had contracted 14 companies to bid on missions, with its purse size of $2.6 billion. For the devolution of such critical responsibilities to be possible in any country, it needs, as the U.S. possesses, a healthy and diversified private space service landscape. This is the value of IM’s success within the context of the U.S. space programme. India recently approved up to 100% automatic foreign direct investment in parts of its national space programme, potentially paving the way for healthy competition among Indian start-ups to ease ISRO’s burden in future. Space is an area that necessitates expansive collaboration, among nations and within them.

 

 

 

================================================================= 

 

 

 

Question :14) What is  Agnibaan (SOrTeD) ?

Ans :

1)The Chennai-headquartered space start-up Agnikul Cosmos Private Ltd. launched the world’s first rocket — Agnibaan Sub Orbital Technology Demonstrator (SOrTeD) — with a single-piece 3D-printed engine from Sriharikota at 7.15 a.m. on 30.5.2024.

2)Agnibaan SOrTeD is India’s first launch from a private launchpad, called ‘Dhanush’, established by Agnikul.

3)It is also India’s first semi-cryogenic engine-powered rocket launch and the world’s first single-piece 3D-printed engine designed and built indigenously.

4)According to the start-up, the key purpose of this mission is to serve as a test flight, to demonstratein-house and home-grown technologies, gather crucial flight data and ensure optimal functioning of systems for Agnikul’s orbital launch vehicle, the ‘Agnibaan’.

5)“Congratulations @AgnikulCosmos for the successful launch of the Agnibaan SoRTed-01 mission from their launch pad.

 6)A major milestone, as the first-ever controlled flight of a semi-cryogenic liquid engine realised through additive manufacturing,” the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) posted on X, following the launch.

7)The IIT-Madras incubated start-up had originally planned the launch for April 7,2024 but had to postpone it 129 seconds before the lift-off due to some technical glitches.

 

===================================================================