Table of Contents
UPSC PRELIMS 2017
What is the purpose of ‘evolved Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (eLISA)’ project?
(a) To detect neutrinos
(b) To detect gravitational waves
(c) To detect the effectiveness of missile defence system
(d) To study the effect of solar flares on our communication systems
ANSWER (B)
- The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is a European Space Agency mission designed to detect and accurately measure gravitational waves
- The LISA project started out as a joint effort between the United States space agency NASA and the European Space Agency ESA. However, in 2011, NASA announced that it would be unable to continue its LISA partnership with the European Space Agency due to funding limitations.
UPSC PRELIMS 2016
With reference to ‘Astrosat’, the astronomical observatory launched by India, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- Other than USA and Russia, India is the only country to have launched a similar observatory into space.
- Astrosat is a 2000 kg satellite placed in an orbit at 1650km above the surface of the Earth.
Select the correct answer using the code given below
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2 only
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
ANSWER: (D)
- ASTROSAT is India’s first multi-wavelength astronomy mission (space observatory) into space. It with a lift-off mass of about 1513 kg was put on an IRS-class satellite in a 650- km, near-equatorial orbit. It was launched by the Indian launch vehicle PSLV (PSLV C30) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota onSeptember 28, 2015.
- Besides NASA, space agencies of the European Union, Japan and Russia have launched similar facilities into the space. Hence both statements are wrong.
NASA RETIRES KEPLER SPACE TELESCOPE
NASA launched the Kepler Space Telescope in 2009 It was NASA’s first planet-hunting mission. It was named after German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler. During its over nine years life, Kepler had observed 530,506 stars and detected 2,662 planets.
KEPLER SPACE TELESCOPE
It used transit photometry detection method for searching for exoplanet, which looked for periodic, repetitive dips in visible light of stars caused by planets passing or transiting in front in front of its host star.
EXOPLANET
It is a planet that does not orbit Sun and instead orbits different star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf. It is also termed as extrasolar planet. The first such planet orbiting star similar to our own Sun was detected only in 1995. Today some 3,600 exoplanets have been found, ranging from rocky Earth-sized planets to large gas giants like Jupiter.
AFTER KEPLER WHAT NEXT?
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is a space telescope for NASA’s Explorers program, designed to search for exoplanets using the transit method in an area 400 times larger than that covered by the Kepler mission While Kepler had cost US$640 million at launch, TESS cost only US$200 million (plus US$87 million for launch).
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