RAS question
India's Gaganyaan mission aims to:
Correct answer: (A) Send Indian astronauts to low Earth orbit.
India's Gaganyaan mission aims to demonstrate human spaceflight capability by sending Indian astronauts to low Earth orbit for a three-day mission and bringing them back safely to Earth.
Explanation
Gaganyaan is ISRO's first crewed space mission and is designed to prove India's human spaceflight capability. ISRO describes the project as launching a crew of three members to a 400 km orbit for a three-day mission, followed by safe return to Earth with landing in Indian sea waters. The correct objective is to send Indian astronauts to low Earth orbit and return them safely. The mission is not merely a launch demonstration: it requires a human-rated launch vehicle, life-support systems, crew escape provisions, crew training, recovery and rehabilitation planning. The launch vehicle is GSLV Mk III, now referred to as LVM3; ISRO's page calls the human-rated version HLVM3.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Building a space station is mentioned by ISRO only as a possible future human-spaceflight activity, not as Gaganyaan's mission aim.
- (C) A Mars rover landing is outside the described Gaganyaan project, which is limited here to a crewed mission in Earth orbit and safe return.
- (D) Launching a space telescope is not part of the Gaganyaan objective, which centres on crew transport, survival, and recovery for human spaceflight.
Concept
This tests India's space programme under Science and Technology, especially the shift from satellite missions to human spaceflight capability. It recurs in RAS because ISRO missions are standard current-affairs-linked science topics with direct factual aims and institutional significance.