NASA’S NSS Space Settlement Contest
Scrutiny Examination -2026 (MODEL QUESTION PAPER)
1. Who is the Aditya L1 Mission Director?
A) S. Somanath
B) Nigar Shaji
C) Ritu Karidhal
D) [Link]
[Link] orbits of planets around the Sun, or of satellites around the Earth, can be ____
A) Circular and elliptic
B) Circular and hyperbolic
C) Elliptic and parabolic
D) Parabolic and hyperbolic
[Link] is Jawahar Point on the moon?
A) Near the Equator
B) Polar Regions
C) Shackleton Crater Region of the moon
D) South Pole
4. Which rocket was used in the Artemis 1 moon mission?
A) Space Launch System rocket
B) Saturn V rocket
C) Space Shuttle Columbia
D) Falcon 9 Heavy rocket
[Link] the following the smallest planet in size is _______?
A) Saturn
B) Earth
C) Jupiter
D) Mars
[Link] planet is known as the ‘Watery Planet’?
A) Mercury
B) Earth
C) Mars
D) Jupiter
[Link] full form of ARTEMIS is ______
A) Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s
Interaction with the Sun
B) Aeronautics, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s
Interaction with the Sun
C) Acceleration, Research, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction
with the Sun
D) None of the above
[Link] is the First Indian Communication Satellite?
A) Aryabhata
B) Bhaskarasega -1
C) APPLE
D) ROHINI RS -85
[Link] many Days was Chandrayaan-1 Operational?
A) 365 Days
B) 265 Days
C) 480 Days
D) 312 Days
[Link] is the Full Form of PSLV?
A) Public Satellite Launch Vehicle
B) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
C) Polar Service Launch Vehicle
D) Public Service Launch Vehicle
11. Which is the First Country to enter Mars orbit on its first attempt?
A) USA
B) RUSSIA
C) INDIA
D) KAZAKHSTAN
12. __________________ is a joint project between the European Space Agency (ESA)
and NASA to study the Sun from its deep core to its outer corona and solar winds.
A) Solar and Helio-spheric Observatory (SOHO)
B) Rosetta
C) LISA Pathfinder
D) JUICE (Jupiter Icy moons Explorer)
13. Which ESA mission captured the Sun’s south pole for the first time?
A) Aditya-L1
B) Solar Orbiter
C) Vera C. Rubin
D) PUNCH
14. Which major Indian space milestone did ISRO reach on January 29, 2025?
A) Successful Venus mission
B) 100th launch from Sriharikota
C) First crewed spaceflight
D) Launch of Axiom-4
15. When is India’s first space station module expected to launch as part of the BAS
(Bharatiya Antariksh Station)?
A) 2026
B) 2028
C) 2030
D) 2025
16. Which star is also called the North Star?
A) Sirius
B) Polaris
C) Betelgeuse
D) Vega
17. What is the Sun?
A) A planet
B) A moon
C) A comet
D) A star
18. Which is the name of a radio source that is very far from Earth?
A) Tracer
B) Phaser
C) Laser
D) Quasar
19. Apollo 8, the first manned mission to go to the moon, made how many orbits before
returning to earth?
A) 20
B) 1
C) 25
D) 10
20. Which NASA telescope was launched to observe the universe in infrared?
A) Hubble
B) Spitzer
C) Kepler
D) Chandra
21. The space station orbit approximately ____ miles above the Earth.
a. 225
b. 275
c. 250
d. 300
[Link] largest Volcano in the Solar system is called Olympus Mons. Where is it?
A) Mars
B) Earth
C) Saturn
D) Jupiter
23. The average density of the earth is approximately ______________
a. Half the density of Water
b. Twice the density of Water
c. Five and half times the density of Water
d. Ten times the density of water
24. Which planet orbits the Sun four times in the time it takes the Earth to go round
once?
a. Venus
b. Mercury
c. Earth
d. Moon
25. The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) is located at _________
a. Ahmedabad
b. Sriharikota
c. Thiruvananthapuram
d. Hyderabad
26. Which of the following is a leguminous crop?
A) Wheat
B) Rice
C) Soybean
D) Maize
27. What is hydroponics?
A) Growing plants in soil
B) Growing plants without soil, using nutrient solutions
C) Growing plants only in air
D) Growing plants in seawater
28. Which macronutrient is essential for leaf growth?
A) Phosphorus (P)
B) Nitrogen (N)
C) Potassium (K)
D) Calcium (Ca)
29. Which hydroponic system requires no electricity?
A) Aeroponics
B) Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)
C) Wick System
D) Ebb and Flow
30. Which system uses mist to deliver nutrients?
A) DWC
B) Aeroponics
C) Wick System
D) Kratky Method