Context:
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) working group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name ‘Statio Shiv Shakti’ for the landing site of Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander.
About Statio Shiv Shakti:
- It is the point where the moon lander of Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the moon surface.
- According to the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, planetary nomenclature, like terrestrial nomenclature, is used to uniquely identify a feature on the surface of a planet or satellite so that it can be easily located, described, and discussed.
International Astronomical Union:
- Founded in 1919
- Mission – to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development, through international cooperation.
- Its individual Members are professional astronomers from all over the world.
- IAU membership spans 92 countries. Out of those countries, 85 are National Members.
- Headquarters – Paris, France
- The IAU is the internationally recognised authority for assigning names to planetary surface features. It follows some rules and conventions to do so.
- Some rules and conventions
- No names having political, military or religious significance may be used, except for names of political figures prior to the 19th century.
- Where appropriate, the IAU [working group] strongly supports an equitable selection of names from ethnic groups, countries, and gender on each map;
- A higher percentage of names from the country planning a landing is allowed on landing site maps.
Source: The Hindu
Previous year question
Consider the following statements:
The Mangalyaan launched by ISRO
1. is also called the Mars Orbiter Mission
2. made India the second country to have a spacecraft orbit the Mars after USA
3. made India the only country to be successful in making its spacecraft orbit the Mars in its very first attempt
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct? [UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2016 Prelims]
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (c)
Explanation: The Mars Orbiter Mission also called Mangalyaan. Hence statement 1 is correct.
India is the only country to be successful in making its spacecraft orbit Mars in its very first attempt. Hence statement 3 is correct.
India is the first Asian country and ISRO is the fourth space agency to send a satellite to Mars after the Soviet space program, NASA, and the European Space Agency. Hence statement 2 is incorrect.
