UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — How will Gaganyaan’s thermal shield protect the crew?
Q1. The first Indian mission in which a full-scale crew module actually flew through the aerothermal heating of atmospheric re-entry was carried out in which one of the following years?
- A. 2014, in the LVM3-X/CARE flight
- B. 2023, in the TV-D1 in-flight abort demonstration
- C. 2024, when the human-rated LVM3 stacking began
- D. 2027, when the first crewed flight is planned
Q2. The Crew Module - the element that must absorb and survive the re-entry heat load - for Gaganyaan's first uncrewed flight is being integrated at which one of the following ISRO centres?
- A. U R Rao Satellite Centre, Bengaluru
- B. Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota
- C. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram
- D. Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Valiamala
Q3. Which one of the following correctly describes the working principle of the ablative thermal protection used on a re-entry crew module?
- A. A rigidised refractory ceramic skin withstands the heat directly without being consumed, and is reused unchanged on every flight
- B. A sacrificial outer layer chars and erodes in flight, so that heat is carried away along with the material lost from the surface
- C. A cryogenic fluid circulating beneath the skin absorbs the entire heat load of re-entry and is vented overboard
- D. The module continuously changes its shape in flight so that all the aerodynamic heating is permanently deflected away from the surface
Q4. After the CARE module splashed down in the Bay of Bengal following its re-entry, its recovery was carried out by which one of the following?
- A. The Eastern Naval Command
- B. The National Institute of Ocean Technology
- C. The Andaman and Nicobar Command
- D. The Indian Coast Guard
Q5. In the LVM3-X/CARE mission, the greatest altitude attained by the crew module, at which it was separated from the launch vehicle, was about
- A. 11.7 km
- B. 126 km
- C. 80 km
- D. 180 km
Q6. Consider the following statements comparing the crew module flown in the TV-D1 mission with the crew module planned for the Gaganyaan orbital missions:
1. The TV-D1 crew module was a single-walled unpressurised aluminium structure, whereas the Gaganyaan crew module is a pressurised, human-habitable module of double-walled construction.
2. The TV-D1 crew module carried only simulated thermal protection made of cork, whereas the Gaganyaan crew module carries a thermal protection system meant to survive re-entry from orbit.
3. TV-D1 demonstrated crew escape at Mach 1.2, whereas the Gaganyaan Crew Escape System is designed to operate only after the orbital module has been injected into orbit.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The TV-D1 crew module was a single-walled unpressurised aluminium structure, whereas the Gaganyaan crew module is a pressurised, human-habitable module of double-walled construction.
- The TV-D1 crew module carried only simulated thermal protection made of cork, whereas the Gaganyaan crew module carries a thermal protection system meant to survive re-entry from orbit.
- TV-D1 demonstrated crew escape at Mach 1.2, whereas the Gaganyaan Crew Escape System is designed to operate only after the orbital module has been injected into orbit.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q7. Consider the following pairs of Gaganyaan programme elements and the entity responsible for them:
1. Crew Module integration - Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
2. Service Module and Orbital Module integration - U R Rao Satellite Centre
3. Assembly of the human-rated LVM3 for the first uncrewed flight - Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR
4. Lead agency for recovery of the crew module after splashdown - Indian Coast Guard
Which of the pairs given above is/are NOT correctly matched?
- Crew Module integration - Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
- Service Module and Orbital Module integration - U R Rao Satellite Centre
- Assembly of the human-rated LVM3 for the first uncrewed flight - Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR
- Lead agency for recovery of the crew module after splashdown - Indian Coast Guard
- A. 1 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 4 only
- D. 1 and 4 only