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RAS question

Chandrayaan-2's lander and rover were named respectively:

Correct answer: (B) Vikram and Pragyan.

Chandrayaan-2's lander was named Vikram and its rover was named Pragyan.

  1. (A)

    Pragyan and Vikram

  2. (B)

    Vikram and Pragyan

  3. (C)

    Aditya and Mangal

  4. (D)

    Bhaskara and Rohini

Explanation

Chandrayaan-2 brought together an orbiter, lander and rover for lunar exploration. ISRO's spacecraft page identifies the lander as Vikram, named after Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, the Father of the Indian Space Programme. The rover was Pragyan, a six-wheeled robotic vehicle whose name translates to wisdom in Sanskrit. The order is important: Vikram is the lander and Pragyan is the rover. The mission outcome is also relevant to the pair: while the orbiter remained functional, the lander lost communication during descent in September 2019.

Why the other options are wrong

  • (A) A reverses the order: Pragyan was the rover, while Vikram was the lander.
  • (C) Aditya and Mangal are mission-related names associated with the Sun and Mars, not the Chandrayaan-2 lander-rover pair.
  • (D) Bhaskara and Rohini are older Indian satellite names, not the names of Chandrayaan-2's lander and rover.

Concept

This tests basic recall from India's space programme under Science and Technology. RAS often asks such questions because ISRO missions link current affairs with static facts on spacecraft components and mission nomenclature.

Source

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