Science & Technology Current Affairs UPSC Exam 2021 Set-1 – Free PDF Download

Q-1) Which of the followings statement is correct regarding the Micius satellite ?

1. It is world’s first quantum-enabled satellite launched by Japan.
2. It was launched in 2020.
3. The totally secure long range message is achieved by Micius using Quantum Key Distribution (QKD).
4. All of the above are correct.

About Micius

• Micius is world’s first quantum-enabled satellite, launched by China in 2016.
• It is also known as the Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS) which is Chinese research project in the field of quantum physics.
• This breakthrough was achieved by Micius using Quantum Key Distribution (QKD).
• Quantum Key Distribution is a technique that allows for secure distribution of keys to be used for encrypting and decrypting messages

Titbits related to Quantum Supremacy

• Recently, Sycamore (Google’s quantum computer) took 200 seconds to perform a calculation that the world’s fastest supercomputer, Summit, would have taken 10,000 years to accomplish.
• The government in its budget 2020 has announced a National Mission on Quantum Technologies & Applications (NM-QTA) for a period of five years
• The project is to be implemented by the Department of Science & Technology (DST).

Q-2)  India has completed 7 years of Mars orbiter mission. Which among the following is correct regarding Mars Orbiter Mission?

1. MOM was the second interplanetary mission of ISRO, launched in 2013.
2. It was launched by GSLV.
3. India is the first Asian nation to reach the Mars orbit.
4. India is the second in the world after USA to achieve in its first attempt.

Mars Orbiter Mission

• The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), commonly referred to as Mangalyaan-1, is a space probe launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on November 5, 2013.
• It is India’s first interplanetary mission, has been in the Martian orbit since September 24, 2014.
• India is the first Asian nation to reach the Mars orbit and the first in the world to achieve it on its first attempt.
• It helped the ISRO to enter the elite group of space agencies including the Soviet Space Program, NASA and the European Space Agency to reach Mars.

Mars mission of various countries

Q-3)  Recently details of Joint Lunar Polar Exploration (LPE) mission were released by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Which among the following is correct regarding Joint Lunar Polar Exploration?

1. It was conceptualized as joint mission between JAXA and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2017
2. It aims to put a lander and a rover on the Moon’s surface.
3. It will be launched after 2023.
4. All of the above

Joint Lunar Polar Exploration Mission

• It was conceptualized as joint mission between JAXA and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2017 which aims to put a lander and a rover on the Moon’s surface.
• As per details shared by JAXA, it will be launched after 2023.
• Rover will conduct an observation of the areas where water may be presently distributed.
• If it detects hydrogen, the rover will then mine the surface to collect samples

Why Moon’s South Pole is Special?

• Its craters have been untouched by sunlight for billions of years — offering an undisturbed record of the solar system’s origins.
• Its permanently shadowed craters are estimated to hold nearly 100 million tons of water.
• It has traces of hydrogen, ammonia, methane, sodium, mercury, and silver — making it an untapped source of essential resources

Q-4) Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) was spotted for the first time by which of the following space organisation?

1. ISRO
2. JAXA
3. ESA
4. NASA

Comet NEOWISE

• It was spotted for the first time by NASA in March 2020 with the help of its Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) telescope.
• Comets are dusty snowballs which orbit the Sun. They are made of ices, such as water, carbon dioxide, ammonia and methane, mixed with dust.
• These materials came from the time when the Solar System was formed.

Q-5) DEMO-2 Mission is a mission to send astronauts to International Space Station. DEMO-2 is a mission of which space agency?

1. ISRO
2. NASA
3. ROSCOSMOS
4. CNSA

DEMO-2 Mission

• It is NASA’s mission to send astronauts to International Space Station (ISS) on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft.
• It will mark NASA’s first crew launch since the agency’s Space Shuttle fleet retired in 2011.
• Since 2011, Russian Soyuz spacecraft has been the sole means of human transport to the ISS, delivering mostly long-term crew.
• It will use a Falcon 9 rocket (also built by SpaceX).

Q-6) Recently, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System constellation was completed by China. Which among the following is correct regarding the BeiDou Navigational Satellite?

1. China’s BeiDou navigation project was launched in the early 1990s.
2. The navigation system has 35 satellite in orbit.
3. BDS is also capable of providing precise point positioning services (PPP).
4. All of the above are correct.

BeiDou Navigational Satellite System

• It is the fourth global satellite navigation system in the world.
• The name BeiDou comes from the Chinese word for the Big Dipper or Plough constellation.
• The navigation system has 35 satellite in orbit.
• China’s BeiDou navigation project was launched in the early 1990s thereafter it became operational within China in 2000 and in the Asia-Pacific region in 2012.
• It aims to integrate its application in different sectors, including fishery, agriculture, special care, mass-market applications, forestry and public security.

Other Navigational Satellite System

Q-7) Recently, India’s First Inorbit Space Debris Monitoring and Tracking System was developed. Which among the following is/are correct regarding it?

1. It has been developed by ISRO.
2. It will provide global real-time earth coverage by deploying a constellation of cost-efficient nanosatellites in Geostationary orbit.
3. It is based on LIDAR technology.
4. All the above are correct.

India’s First Inorbit Space Debris

Monitoring and Tracking System

• It will provide global real-time earth coverage by deploying a constellation of cost-efficient nanosatellites in LEO (Low Earth Orbit).
• It will help international space agencies to track and map the space debris and minimize the major threat to the future space explorations.
• It has been developed by Digantara, India’s first air and space surveillance company

LiDAR

• LiDAR is a remote sensing technology that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (distances) to a target.
• These light pulses—combined with other data recorded by the airborne system— generate precise, three-dimensional information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics.
• It is similar to radar and sonar (that use radio and sound waves, respectively)

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