This is “Retroreflector”, the device that Pragyaan rovers on both Chandrayaan 2 and Chandrayaan 3 carried. It reflects light incident on it in a specific direction.
| Photo Credit: NASA

Q: The landers of the Chandrayaan 2 and the Chandrayaan 3 missions both aimed for a patch on the moon’s surface between the craters X and Y, in the LQ30 quadrangle designated by the U.S. Geological Survey. X is named for an Italian astronomer noted for his contributions to lens-making for telescopes. Name the astronomer.

A: Carlo Antonio Manzini

Q: India’s first moon mission Chandrayaan 1 is credited with discovering water ice on the moon’s surface with two instruments. One, called the Moon Impact Probe, was made by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The other was made by NASA; what was it called?

A: Moon Mineralogy Mapper

Q:  Name the component of the Chandrayaan 2 mission still online and conducting operations. After it started operating, ISRO also increased its mission lifetime to more than seven years. It captured data that helped finalise the landing spot of Chandrayaan 3.

A: Orbiter

Q:  At the time, on August 23, 2023, Chandrayaan 3’s Vikram was the lander closest to the moon’s south pole. Name the American moon mission that superseded this feat in February 2024 when it landed further south, in the Malapert A crater. 

A:  IM-1

Q: In the first week of December 2023, ISRO moved the propulsion module of Chandrayaan 3 from a lunar orbit to an earth orbit. ISRO said the feat tested a technology for a future mission to perform the same feat China most recently did with its Chang’e 6 mission. What feat?

A: Sample return