UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — SpaceX rocket stage hurtles toward moon, astronomers hot on its trail

Q1. The derelict SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage now on a lunar collision course had, on its January 2025 flight, delivered a primary commercial lunar lander for a NASA payload-delivery contract. Which one of the following was that lander?

  • A. Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1, which later touched down in Mare Crisium
  • B. ispace's Hakuto-R Mission 2, the Japanese commercial lander of that launch campaign
  • C. Intuitive Machines' Athena lander, which came down near the lunar south pole
  • D. Danuri, the lunar orbiter operated by the Republic of Korea

Q2. The accidental lunar impact of the abandoned Falcon 9 second stage near Einstein Crater is predicted for which one of the following moments?

  • A. 15 January 2025, at about 06:00 UTC
  • B. 4 March 2022, at about 12:25 UTC
  • C. 5 August 2026, at about 06:35 UTC
  • D. 2 March 2025, at about 08:30 UTC

Q3. Which one of the following first computed and publicised the derelict rocket stage's lunar collision trajectory, ahead of its observation by national space agencies?

  • A. Bill Gray's Project Pluto orbit-computation effort, run outside any space agency
  • B. The camera science team of NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter at Goddard
  • C. The flight dynamics team of the Republic of Korea's Danuri lunar orbiter
  • D. ISRO's System for Safe and Sustainable Space Operations Management (IS4OM)

Q4. Danuri, one of the orbiters positioned to observe the lunar impact, reached the Moon using a 'Ballistic Lunar Transfer'. This term refers to which one of the following?

  • A. A low-energy trajectory carrying the spacecraft far beyond lunar distance, where solar gravitational perturbation reshapes its path so that it is captured months later
  • B. A high-thrust direct injection that places the spacecraft into lunar orbit roughly four days after launch, at the cost of substantially more propellant
  • C. A sequence of engine burns at perigee that progressively raise an Earth orbit until its apogee reaches the Moon and capture occurs
  • D. An unpowered terminal phase in which the vehicle free-falls onto the lunar surface once the braking burn has been cut off

Q5. Which one of the following correctly describes how NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme is operationalised?

  • A. NASA buys delivery services from private American firms that build and fly their own landers to carry its instruments, in support of the Artemis strategy
  • B. NASA builds all the landers at its own field centres and private firms are engaged exclusively to provide the launch vehicles for them
  • C. Every CLPS delivery must be targeted at the lunar south polar region, which is the programme's sole permitted landing zone
  • D. Participation is restricted entirely to companies that themselves operate an orbital launch vehicle, all other bidders being ineligible

Q6. With reference to NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme, consider the following missions: 1. Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1, which touched down in Mare Crisium in March 2025 2. Intuitive Machines' Athena lander, which came down about 160 km from the lunar south pole 3. ispace's Hakuto-R Mission 2, co-manifested on the January 2025 Falcon 9 launch 4. Danuri, which entered a lunar science orbit of about 100 km altitude Which of the above is/are NOT correctly identified as a mission flown under a NASA CLPS delivery contract?

  1. Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1, which touched down in Mare Crisium in March 2025
  2. Intuitive Machines' Athena lander, which came down about 160 km from the lunar south pole
  3. ispace's Hakuto-R Mission 2, co-manifested on the January 2025 Falcon 9 launch
  4. Danuri, which entered a lunar science orbit of about 100 km altitude
  • A. 1 and 2
  • B. 3 only
  • C. 3 and 4
  • D. 2, 3 and 4

Q7. Under the Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects (1972), the liability of a launching State for damage caused by its space object on the surface of the Earth or to aircraft in flight is best described as which one of the following?

  • A. Absolute liability, so that the claimant need not establish any fault on the part of the launching State
  • B. Fault-based liability, so that the claimant must first establish negligence by the launching State
  • C. Liability confined to those objects that the launching State has registered with the UN Secretary-General
  • D. Liability shared in equal measure among all States that are parties to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967

Q8. Consider the following statements about the United Nations treaties governing outer space: 1. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 makes States internationally responsible for national activities in outer space, including those carried out by non-governmental entities. 2. The Rescue Agreement of 1968 is one of the five UN space treaties and deals with the rescue and return of astronauts and of objects launched into outer space. 3. The Registration Convention requires objects launched into Earth orbit to be entered in a register maintained by the International Telecommunication Union. 4. The Moon Agreement of 1984 was the earliest of the five UN space treaties to enter into force. Which of the statements given above are NOT correct?

  1. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 makes States internationally responsible for national activities in outer space, including those carried out by non-governmental entities.
  2. The Rescue Agreement of 1968 is one of the five UN space treaties and deals with the rescue and return of astronauts and of objects launched into outer space.
  3. The Registration Convention requires objects launched into Earth orbit to be entered in a register maintained by the International Telecommunication Union.
  4. The Moon Agreement of 1984 was the earliest of the five UN space treaties to enter into force.
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 3 only
  • C. 2 and 4 only
  • D. 3 and 4 only

Q9. Consider the following lunar features and their descriptions: 1. South Pole–Aitken basin — about 2,500 km across, the largest, deepest and oldest well-preserved impact structure on the Moon, lying on the far side 2. Orientale — a basin situated on the western limb of the Moon's near side 3. Einstein Crater — the region of the Moon's western limb identified as the impact point of the derelict Falcon 9 upper stage 4. Copernican-age craters — conspicuous features confined to the eastern limb of the Moon's near side Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. South Pole–Aitken basin — about 2,500 km across, the largest, deepest and oldest well-preserved impact structure on the Moon, lying on the far side
  2. Orientale — a basin situated on the western limb of the Moon's near side
  3. Einstein Crater — the region of the Moon's western limb identified as the impact point of the derelict Falcon 9 upper stage
  4. Copernican-age craters — conspicuous features confined to the eastern limb of the Moon's near side
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 2 and 4 only
  • C. 1 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 3 and 4

Q10. The first fully successful Moon landing achieved by a commercial company took place in which one of the following lunar regions?

  • A. Mare Crisium, a basin on the Earth-facing side of the Moon
  • B. The South Pole–Aitken basin on the Moon's far side
  • C. Mare Orientale, on the western limb of the lunar near side
  • D. The highlands adjoining Einstein Crater on the western limb

Q11. The booster that struck the Moon on 4 March 2022 was described as the first long-circulating piece of human-made debris to hit the lunar surface, adding to human-made material deposited there over roughly how many years?

  • A. About 20 years
  • B. About 40 years
  • C. More than 60 years
  • D. More than 100 years

Q12. India's Debris-Free Space Missions initiative, which sets 2030 as the target for all Indian space missions, governmental and non-governmental, to be debris-free, is implemented through which one of the following as the nodal entity?

  • A. ISRO System for Safe and Sustainable Space Operations Management (IS4OM)
  • B. Network for Space Object Tracking and Analysis (NETRA), the surveillance project
  • C. Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), the regulator
  • D. Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), the inter-agency forum