NAME OF DATE OF

PROGRAMME AREA
THE EXAM EXAM
NASA 08-09-2021 E-TECHNO & OLY AP & TS
NASA 15-09-2021 E-TECHNO & OLY CBSE

Instructions:
i. The question paper consists of 25 multiple choice questions
ii. Each question carries 2 marks and having no negative mark
iii. Exam will be conducted in the google form.
iv. Exam is compulsory for all the students. (6th to 10th)
v. Duration of the exam is 45 min.
vi. Portion and material copy is attached to this file.
vii. Results will be announced within 2 days after the examination.
 NASA EXAM PREPARATION TOPICS

ABOUT SPACE
In space, no one can hear you scream. This is because there is no air in space
it is a vacuum. Sound waves cannot travel through a vacuum.
'Outer space' begins about 100 km above the Earth, where the shell of air around our
planet disappears. With no air to scatter sunlight and produce a blue sky, space
appears as a black blanket dotted with stars.
Space is usually regarded as being completely empty. But this is not true. The vast
gaps between the stars and planets are filled with huge amounts of thinly spread gas
and dust. Even the emptiest parts of space contain at least a few hundred atoms or
molecules per cubic metre.
Space is also filled with many forms of radiation that are dangerous to astronauts.
Much of this infrared and ultraviolet radiation comes from the Sun. High energy X-rays,
gamma rays and cosmic rays – particles travelling close to the speed of light – arrive
from distant star systems.

BIG BANG
Most astronomers believe the Universe began in a Big Bang about 14 billion
years ago. At that time, the entire Universe was inside a bubble that was thousands
of times smaller than a pinhead. It was hotter and denser than anything we can
imagine.
Then it suddenly exploded. The Universe that we know was born. Time, space and
matter all began with the Big Bang. In a fraction of a second, the Universe grew from
smaller than a single atom to bigger than a galaxy. And it kept on growing at a fantastic
rate. It is still expanding today.
As the Universe expanded and cooled, energy changed into particles of matter and
antimatter. These two opposite types of particles largely destroyed each other. But
some matter survived. More stable particles called protons and neutrons started to
form when the Universe was one second old.
Over the next three minutes, the temperature dropped below 1 billion degrees Celsius.
It was now cool enough for the protons and neutrons to come together, forming
hydrogen and helium nuclei.
After 300 000 years, the Universe had cooled to about 3000 degrees. Atomic nuclei
could finally capture electrons to form atoms. The Universe filled with clouds of
hydrogen and helium gas.
SOLAR SYSTEM
Our planetary system is located in an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy.
Our solar system consists of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity
— the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune,
dwarf planets such as Pluto, dozens of moons and millions of asteroids, comets and
meteoroids. Beyond our own solar system, we have discovered thousands of
planetary systems orbiting other stars in the Milky Way.
Beyond our own solar system, there are more planets than stars in night sky. So far,
we have discovered thousands of planetary systems orbiting other stars in the Milky
Way, with more planets being found all the time. Most of the hundreds of billions of
stars in our galaxy are thought to have planets of their own, and the Milky Way is but
one of perhaps 100 billion galaxies in the universe.
While our planet is in some ways a mere speck in the vast cosmos, we have a lot of
company out there. It seems that we live in a universe packed with planets — a web
of countless stars accompanied by families of objects, perhaps some with life of their
own.

Formation
Our solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a dense cloud of interstellar
gas and dust. The cloud collapsed, possibly due to the shockwave of a nearby
exploding star, called a supernova. When this dust cloud collapsed, it formed a solar
nebula—a spinning, swirling disk of material.
At the center, gravity pulled more and more material in. Eventually the pressure in the
core was so great that hydrogen atoms began to combine and form helium, releasing
a tremendous amount of energy. With that, our Sun was born, and it eventually
amassed more than 99 percent of the available matter.
Matter farther out in the disk was also clumping together. These clumps smashed into
one another, forming larger and larger objects. Some of them grew big enough for
their gravity to shape them into spheres, becoming planets, dwarf planets and large
moons. In other cases, planets did not form: the asteroid belt is made of bits and pieces
of the early solar system that could never quite come together into a planet. Other
smaller leftover pieces became asteroids, comets, meteoroids, and small, irregular
moons.
Size of the Eight Planets:
According to NASA, this is the estimated radii of the eight planets in our solar system,
in order of size. We also have included the radii sizes relative to Earth to help you
picture them better.

Jupiter (69,911 km / 43,441 miles) – 1,120% the size of Earth

Saturn (58,232 km / 36,184 miles) – 945% the size of Earth
Uranus (25,362 km / 15,759 miles) – 400% the size of Earth
Neptune (24,622 km / 15,299 miles) – 388% the size of Earth
Earth (6,371 km / 3,959 miles)
Venus (6,052 km / 3,761 miles) – 95% the size of Earth
Mars (3,390 km / 2,460 miles) – 53% the size of Earth
Mercury (2,440 km / 1,516 miles) – 38% the size of Earth
Eight planets and a dwarf planet in our Solar System, approximately to scale. Pluto is
a dwarf planet at far right. At far left is the Sun. The planets are, from left, Mercury,
Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Credit: Lunar and Planetary
Institute.
Jupiter is the behemoth of the Solar System and is believed to be responsible
for influencing the path of smaller objects that drift by its massive bulk. Sometimes it
will send comets or asteroids into the inner solar system, and sometimes it will divert
those away.
Saturn, most famous for its rings, also hosts dozens of moons — including Titan, which
has its own atmosphere. Joining it in the outer solar system are Uranus and Neptune,
which both have atmospheres of hydrogen, helium and methane. Uranus also rotates
opposite to other planets in the solar system.
The inner planets include Venus (once considered Earth’s twin, at least until its hot
surface was discovered); Mars (a planet where liquid water could have flowed in the
past); Mercury (which despite being close to the sun, has ice at its poles) and Earth,
the only planet known so far to have life.

MAJOR ACHEIVEMENT OF HUMANS IN SPACE

Yuri Gagarin became the first Soviet and the first human to reach space, on Vostok 1.
Alan Shepard became the first American to reach space, on Freedom 7. John Glenn
became the first American to orbit the Earth. Valentina Tereshkova became the first
woman to go into space and to orbit the Earth.

ON MOON
The United States' Apollo 11 was the first crewed mission to land on the Moon, on 20
July 1969. There were six crewed U.S. landings between 1969 and 1972, and
numerous uncrewed landings, with no soft landings happening between 22 August
1976 and 14 December 2013.
Even if you weren’t alive on July 20, 1969, you’ve probably seen footage of the first
Moon landing, when astronaut Neil Armstrong famously declared, “That’s one small
step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind,” and Buzz Aldrin helped him plant an
American flag on the lunar surface. And didn’t they also ride around in a golf cart? Or
did they putt a few golf balls? Actually, that was Alan Shepard with a golf club during
the Apollo 14 mission. And that wasn’t a golf cart. It was a lunar rover, and it also came
later: David Scott and James Irwin used one for the first time during the Apollo 15
mission. Considering that Americans lost interest in watching missions to the Moon
after the first landing, you can be forgiven for not keeping all the details straight. You
might be wondering just how many missions and how many people have been to the
Moon. In fact, during nine Apollo missions, 24 astronauts went to the Moon, and 12 of
them had the opportunity to walk on it.

ABOUT NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent
agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as
well as aeronautics and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics (NACA). The new agency was to have a distinctly civilian orientation,
encouraging peaceful applications in space science. Since its establishment, most US
space exploration efforts have been led by NASA, including the Apollo Moon landing
missions, the Skylab space station, and later the Space Shuttle. NASA is supporting
the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion
spacecraft, the Space Launch System, Commercial Crew vehicles, and the planned
Lunar Gateway space station. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services
Program, which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management
for uncrewed NASA launches.
NASA's science is focused on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing
System; advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Science Mission
Directorate's Heliophysics Research Program; exploring bodies throughout the Solar
System with advanced robotic spacecraft such as New Horizons; and researching
astrophysics topics, such as the Big Bang, through the Great Observatories and
associated programs.

ISRO
Founded on 15 August 1969 by Vikram Sarabhai
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) or (IAST : Bhāratīya Antrikṣ
Anusandhān Saṅgaṭhan) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in
Bengaluru. It operates under Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen
by the Prime Minister of India, while Chairman of ISRO acts as executive of DOS as
well. ISRO is the primary agency in India to perform tasks related to space based
applications, space exploration and development of related technologies. It is one of
six government space agencies in the world which possess full launch capabilities,
deploy cryogenic engines, launch extraterrestrial missions and operate large fleets of
artificial satellites.
ISRO built India's first satellite, Aryabhata, which was launched by the Soviet Union
on 19 April 1975. In 1980, ISRO launched satellite RS-1 onboard its own SLV-3
making India the sixth country to be capable of undertaking orbital launches. SLV-3
was followed by ASLV which was subsequently succeeded by development of many
medium-lift launch vehicles, rocket engines, satellite systems and networks enabling
agency to launch hundreds of domestic and foreign satellites and various deep space
missions for space exploration.
ISRO was the world's first space agency to find water on the moon and insert a probe
in orbit of Mars in its maiden attempt. It has the world's largest constellation of remote-
sensing satellites and operates two satellite navigation systems namely GAGAN and
NAVIC.
Goals in near future include expanding satellites fleet, landing a rover on Moon,
sending humans into space, development of a semi-cryogenic engine, sending more
unmanned missions to moon, Mars, Venus and Sun and deployment of more space
telescopes in orbit to observe consmic phenomena and outer space beyond solar
system. Long term plans include development of reusable launchers, heavy and super
heavy launch vehicles, deploying a space station, sending exploration missions to
external planets like Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and asteroids and manned missions to
Moon and planets.
ISRO's programs have played a significant role in the socio-economic development of
India and have supported both civilian and military domains in various aspects
including disaster management, telemedicine and navigation and reconnaissance
missions. ISRO's spin off technologies also have founded many crucial innovations for
India's engineering and medical industries.

ABOUT PLANETS
Planet, (from Greek planētes, “wanderers”), broadly, any relatively large natural body
that revolves in an orbit around the Sun or around some other star and that is not
radiating energy from internal nuclear fusion reactions. In addition to the above
description, some scientists impose additional constraints regarding characteristics
such as size (e.g., the object should be more than about 1,000 km [600 miles] across,
or a little larger than the largest known asteroid, Ceres), shape (it should be large
enough to have been squeezed by its own gravity into a sphere—i.e., roughly 700 km
[435 miles] across, depending on its density), or mass (it must have a mass insufficient
for its core to have experienced even temporary nuclear fusion). As the term is applied
to bodies in Earth’s solar system, the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which is
charged by the scientific community with classifying astronomical objects, lists eight
planets orbiting the Sun; in order of increasing distance, they are Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto also was listed as a planet
until 2006. Until the close of the 20th century, the only planets to be recognized were
components of Earth’s solar system. At that time astronomers confirmed that other
stars have objects that appear to be planets in orbit around them.

Planets of the solar system

The idea of what exactly constitutes a planet of the solar system has been traditionally
the product of historical and cultural consensus. Ancient sky gazers applied the term
planet to the seven celestial bodies that were observed to move appreciably against
the background of the apparently fixed stars. These included the Sun and Earth’s
Moon, as well as the five planets in the modern sense—Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter,
and Saturn—that were readily visible as celestial wanderers before the invention of
the telescope. After the idea of an Earth-centred cosmos was dispelled (see
Copernican system) and more distinctions were made about the nature and movement
of objects in the sky, the term planet was reserved only for those larger bodies that
orbited the Sun. When the giant bodies Uranus and Neptune were discovered in 1781
and 1846, respectively, their obvious kinship with the other known planets left little
question regarding their addition to the planetary ranks. So also, at first, appeared to
be the case for Pluto when, during a concerted search for a ninth planet, it was
observed in 1930 as a seemingly lone object beyond the orbit of Neptune. In later
decades, however, Pluto’s planetary status became increasingly questioned by
astronomers who noted that its tiny size, unusual orbital characteristics, and
composition of ice and rock made it an anomaly among the other recognized planets.
After many more Pluto-sized and smaller icy objects were found orbiting beyond
Neptune beginning in the 1990s, astronomers recognized that Pluto, far from being
unique in its part of the solar system, is almost undoubtedly one of the larger and
nearer pieces of this debris, known collectively as the Kuiper belt, that is left over from
the formation of the planets.
The solar system is host to two broad categories of planets. The four closest to the
sun — Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars — are the terrestrial planets. They have rocky
surfaces enclosed by relatively shallow atmospheres. The gas and ice giants —
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — are outliers. They are much larger than the
terrestrial planets, but their cores are small and icy. Most of their size is formed by a
combination of gases that become denser and hotter as you get closer to the core.
Scientists count eight planets overall. Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006.
PLANETS CHARECTERISTICS
Hot and Cold
Mercury is hot, but scientists have observed ice on its poles.
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. It rotates slowly — about twice for every three
orbits it completes. Its cratered surface can experience temperatures upwards of 800
degrees Fahrenheit (426.7 degrees Celsius) because of its proximity to the sun.
However, temperatures on the side facing away from the sun are cold — about -279
F (-173 C). Slightly larger than Earth's moon, it is the smallest planet in the solar
system. It has no moons, no rings, and an atmosphere so thin that scientists classify
it as an exosphere.

A Global Warming Catastrophe

A hostile inferno underlies Venus' relatively thick atmosphere.
The second planet from the sun, Venus is slightly smaller than Earth. Because of its
relative proximity to Earth, it is the largest planet seen in the night sky. The cratered
surface is hot with surface temperatures around 900 F (482 C), the product of a
runaway greenhouse effect. Although the atmosphere is nowhere near as thick as that
of any outer planet, it's the thickest of the terrestrial planets, and it consists mostly of
sulfuric acid and carbon dioxide. The density of its atmosphere makes the air pressure
at the surface 90 times that of Earth's. The heat and pressure make the planet
decidedly inhospitable to life.
Home Sweet Home
The third planet from the sun is home sweet home to human beings.
Earth, the third planet from the sun and the largest terrestrial planet, is the only planet
known to host living beings and the only one known to have liquid water on its surface.
The atmosphere, made of mostly nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide, is crucial to
Earth's ability to support life. Although the surface of the earth is mostly water, the
planet also has large landmasses which harbor a stunning variety of ecosystems.

The Rusty Planet

Mars as seen from the Mars Global Surveyor
Stargazers from antiquity have called Mars, the fourth planet from the sun, Mars, the
Red Planet. The red color of the surface comes from iron oxide or rust in the soil. The
topography is characterized by large volcanoes and deep valleys, and Mars
experiences frequent planet-wide wind storms. Some of the surface features of Mars,
such as dry river beds, hint to the possibility that water previously existed on the planet
and may still flow under the surface. The carbon dioxide atmosphere is very thin on
Mars, with only 1/100th the atmospheric pressure of Earth. The planet is colder than
Earth, with surface temperatures ranging from -171 to 32 F (-113 to 0 C).
King of the Solar System
Europa and Io, two of Jupiter's moons, circle the planet.
Further from the sun, past a ring of asteroids, lies the largest planet in our solar system
— Jupiter — the first of the gas giant planets. Its characteristic colored cloud patterns
are caused by enormous, swirling storms in its atmosphere, which consists of primarily
of hydrogen, helium, methane ammonia and water ice. The largest and most
distinctive of the storms, the Great Red Spot, is larger than Earth. Jupiter has 63
moons and a faint ring system.

The Ringed One

Five different views of Saturn taken by the Hubble space telescope.
Saturn, the sixth planet from the sun, is also a gas giant, and it's most impressive
feature as seen from afar is an extensive and complex ring system. The rings orbit the
planet in a thin band about a mile thick. The radius of Saturn is about 9.5 times that of
Earth, and instead of one paltry moon, it boasts 62. The interior of Saturn, like Jupiter,
is made of mostly hydrogen and helium. Nearing the core, the intense pressure turns
the gases into liquids and ultimately into a metallic form that conducts electricity.
An Oddball that Spins on Its Side
Uranus as viewed from the Hubble Space Telescope
While most planets spin on their axis with a slight tilt, the ice giant Uranus spins on an
axis parallel to its orbit. With a diameter of 31,518 miles (50,723 kilometers), this cold
planet is four times the size of Earth and is made of a large atmosphere of methane
with a dense core of frozen methane. Uranus has a faint ring system and 27 moons in
its orbit.

The blue planet

Neptune is the farthest one from the sun and, like Uranus, is a very cold place. Its
surface temperature is a chilly -353 F (-214 C). Because of its distance from the sun
and its large orbit, one year on Neptune is 165 Earth years. The atmosphere is mostly
methane, which gives the planet its blue color. The cold interior of the planet is mainly
methane ice. Like all the outer planets, Neptune, like Uranus, has a diameter roughly
four times that of Earth. Thirteen moons and a faint ring system orbit the planet.
Our solar system is located in the Orion arm of the Milky Way galaxy. It has eight
planets, each of which orbit the sun at the center of the solar system. Pluto was once
thought of as the ninth planet. However, discoveries lead to a change in the definition
of a planet, and, according to NASA, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006.