Question: Name the launch vehicle by which ISRO has successfully launched of RESOURCESAT-2A into Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit ?
(a) PSLV-C36
(b) PSLV-C35
(c) PSLV-C33
(d) PSLV-C37
Ans:(a)
Related facts:
- On 7 December 2016;In its thirty eighth flight (PSLV-C36), ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle successfully launched the 1235 kg RESOURCESAT-2A Satellite.
- It was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.
- This is the thirty seventh consecutively successful mission of PSLV.
- After PSLV-C36 lift-off at 10:25 am IST from the First Launch Pad with the ignition of the first stage, the subsequent important flight events, namely, strap-on ignitions and separations, first stage separation, second stage ignition, payload fairing separation, second stage separation, third stage ignition and separation, fourth stage ignition and cut-off, took place as planned.
- After a flight of 17 minutes 05 seconds, the vehicle achieved a polar Sun Synchronous Orbit of 824 km height inclined at an angle of 98.725 degree to the equator (very close to the intended orbit) and 47 seconds later, RESOURCESAT-2A was separated from the PSLV fourth stage.
- After separation, the two solar arrays of RESOURCESAT-2A deployed automatically and ISRO’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore took over the control of the satellite.
- Like its predecessors RESOURCESAT-1 and 2, RESOURCESAT-2A has a unique 3-Tier imaging system with Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS), Linear Imaging Self Scanner-3 (LISS-3) and Linear Imaging Self Scanner-4 (LISS-4) cameras.
- The data sent by RESOURCESAT-2A will be useful for agricultural applications like crop area and crop production estimation, drought monitoring, soil mapping, cropping system analysis and farm advisories generation.
- The life span of the satellite mission will be 5 years.
- RESOURCESAT-2A is a Remote Sensing satellite intended for resource monitoring. RESOURCESAT-2A is a follow on mission to RESOURCESAT-1 and RESOURCESAT-2, launched in 2003 and 2011 respectively.
- The total number of satellites launched by India’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV including today’s RESOURCESAT-2A has now reached 121, of which 42 are Indian and the remaining 79 are from abroad.
Reference:
http://www.isro.gov.in/launcher/pslv-c36-resourcesat-2a
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=155074
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=154978
http://www.isro.gov.in/update/07-dec-2016/pslv-c36-successfully-launches-resourcesat-2a-remote-sensing-satellite
http://www.isro.gov.in/launchers/pslv
http://www.isro.gov.in/Spacecraft/resourcesat-2a