Question: Which of the following crater have been recently scanned by Chandrayan-2 on its orbital maneuvers of the moon?
(a) Surya
(b) Mitra
(c) Varun
(d) Agni
Answer: (b)
Related facts:
- Chandrayan-2 orbiter or mother spacecraft has zeroed in on a crater on the moon named after 20th century’s acclaimed radio physicist Sisir Kumar Mitra. The Mitra crater is on the edge of another crater.
- Images of the crater are among the second set of pictures of the northern craters sent by the orbiter. The picture was taken by the Terrain Mapping Camera-2 on 23rd August, 2019. The orbiter was then around 4300 km from the moon.
- At 25 degrees Kelvin (minus 248 degrees Celsius), the northern polar region is believed to be one of the coldest spots in the solar system.
- Prof. Mitra 1890-1963 also lends his name to the S.K. Mitra Centre for Research in Space Environment of the University of Calcutta.