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RAS question

India became the first country to land near the lunar south pole with:

Correct answer: (B) Chandrayaan-3.

India became the first country to land near the lunar south pole with Chandrayaan-3.

  1. (A)

    Chandrayaan-2

  2. (B)

    Chandrayaan-3

  3. (C)

    Chandrayaan-1

  4. (D)

    Mangalyaan

Explanation

Chandrayaan-3 is the correct answer because its Vikram lander soft-landed at 69.37 degrees S latitude on August 23, 2023, making India the first country to land so close to the lunar south pole. The PIB release confirms that, with Chandrayaan-3's successful landing, India became the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface and the first to do so on the south pole of the Moon. This matters scientifically because the south-pole region has permanently shadowed craters where water ice is found. The release also contrasts Chandrayaan-3 with Chandrayaan-2: the earlier mission suffered higher touchdown velocities in the lander's final phase, while Chandrayaan-3 was planned with those contingencies in mind.

Why the other options are wrong

  • (A) Chandrayaan-2 was the earlier effort whose lander faced higher velocities at touchdown, so it was not the mission that gave India the first south-pole soft landing.
  • (C) Chandrayaan-1 is not identified in the explanation or the PIB release as the mission that soft-landed near the lunar south pole.
  • (D) Mangalyaan is not the mission credited in the explanation or the PIB release with India's lunar south-pole soft landing; that achievement is tied to Chandrayaan-3.

Concept

This tests Science and Technology under India's space missions and landmark achievements. RAS often uses such questions to check whether candidates can link a mission name with the exact national achievement it produced.

Source

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