UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — How does the Gaganyaan’s life-support system operate?

Q1. Which of the following are correctly identified as characteristics of long-duration (regenerative) life-support systems, as distinct from short-duration missions?

  1. Recycling crew waste into breathable air and clean water
  2. Carrying the entire oxygen supply in high-pressure gas bottles and storing waste for later disposal
  3. Regenerative environmental control of the type used on the International Space Station
  4. Relying on lithium hydroxide canisters that are consumed and discarded after use
  • A. 1 and 3
  • B. 2 and 4
  • C. 1, 3 and 4
  • D. 1 only

Q2. In the context of a spacecraft's life-support system, the term 'hypercapnia' refers to which one of the following?

  • A. A harmful build-up of carbon dioxide, causing headaches, dizziness and impaired cognition
  • B. A fall in cabin oxygen partial pressure leading to hypoxia
  • C. A loss of cabin pressure causing decompression sickness
  • D. An accumulation of trace organic contaminants and odours in recycled cabin air

Q3. The Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme is implemented by which one of the following?

  • A. ISRO, under the Department of Space
  • B. DRDO, under the Ministry of Defence
  • C. The Institute of Aerospace Medicine, under the Indian Air Force
  • D. The Defence Space Agency, under the Integrated Defence Staff

Q4. The human-rated launch vehicle designated to carry the Gaganyaan crew to its ~400 km orbit is:

  • A. HLVM3 (Human-rated LVM3)
  • B. PSLV-XL
  • C. GSLV Mk-II
  • D. SSLV

Q5. As identified by ISRO/the Government, how many prerequisite critical technologies must be developed for the Gaganyaan mission?

  • A. Three
  • B. Four
  • C. Five
  • D. Six

Q6. The Department of Space, which implements the Gaganyaan programme now in its final phase, functions administratively under which one of the following?

  • A. The Prime Minister
  • B. The Ministry of Defence
  • C. The Ministry of Science and Technology
  • D. The Ministry of Earth Sciences

Q7. In the Gaganyaan programme's final phase, the term 'Gaganyaan-G1' refers to which one of the following?

  • A. The first uncrewed orbital test flight, using a Human-rated LVM3
  • B. The first crewed flight, scheduled for the first quarter of 2027
  • C. The Test Vehicle abort-mission flight flown in October 2023
  • D. The ground-based crew module sea-recovery trial with the Indian Navy

Q8. The four astronaut-designates for the Gaganyaan mission, who completed their initial (generic) space-flight training in Russia, were drawn from which one of the following?

  • A. Test pilots of the Indian Air Force
  • B. Naval aviators of the Indian Navy
  • C. Scientists of the Indian Institute of Science
  • D. The cosmonaut corps of Roscosmos

Q9. Within ISRO, the lead centre responsible for the Gaganyaan programme's human-spaceflight R&D — including life-support systems, bioastronautics and crew training — is:

  • A. Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC), Bengaluru
  • B. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram
  • C. U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Bengaluru
  • D. Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota