2016 GS Paper I, all questions

UPSC Prelims 2016 · GS Paper I

Question 91: Science and Technology

Consider the following statements : The Mangalyaan launched by ISRO

  1. 1.is also called the Mars Orbiter Mission
  2. 2.made India the second country to have a spacecraft orbit the Mars after USA
  3. 3.made India the only country to be successful in making its spacecraft orbit the Mars in its very first attempt

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a1 only
b2 and 3 only
c1 and 3 only
d1, 2 and 3

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (c).

Mangalyaan is ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission, which entered Mars orbit in September 2014 and made India, as of 2016, the only country to do so on its very first attempt. It was not the second country to orbit Mars after the US: the Soviet Union and the US had both orbited Mars in 1971, and the European Space Agency, which is not a country, did so in 2003.

  • 1. Mangalyaan is also called the Mars Orbiter Mission.
  • 2. The Soviet Union and the US had orbited Mars earlier, so India was not second after the US.
  • 3. As of 2016, India was the only country to have reached Mars orbit on its first attempt.

How you could have got this

  1. If you were sure statement 3 is correct, (a) goes: it leaves 3 out.

    What you needed to know: As of 2016, India was the only country to have reached Mars orbit on its first attempt.

    The red flag in statement 3 is “only”. In UPSC’s papers, statements with “only” were true 27% of the time (82 statements). A hint, not a rule.

  2. Then, if you were sure statement 2 is not correct, (b) and (d) go: each of them includes 2.

    What you needed to know: The Soviet Union and the US had orbited Mars earlier, so India was not second after the US.

Only (c) is left. You didn’t need statement 1.

Which options go is worked out from UPSC’s key and the options, not by a model.

Why each option is right or wrong
  • (a) Statement 3 is also correct.
  • (b) Statement 2 is wrong: the Soviet Union had also orbited Mars.
  • (c) Right: statements 1 and 3 are correct, statement 2 is not.
  • (d) Statement 2 is wrong, so 'all three' fails.

Worth knowing: Since 2016 the UAE's Hope probe and China's Tianwen-1 also reached Mars orbit on their first attempts (both in 2021), so statement 3 no longer holds today.

Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2016, General Studies Paper I, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.