Q: Name this NASA mission during which astronauts on the moon became the first to drive a lunar rover on July 31, 1971.
A: Apollo 15
Q: Name the eight‑wheeled rover the Soviet Union launched in 1970, which became the world’s first robotic rover on the moon. From November 17, 1970, to September 14, 1971, the rover travelled 10 km across the bleak volcanic plains of Mare Imbrium and eventually beamed back more than 20,000 images.
A: Lunokhod 1
Q: Sojourner was a shoebox‑sized Mars rover that piggybacked on the NASA Pathfinder mission in 1997. The rover used X suspension, a new kind of system built for it, to traverse the red planet. Sojourner first proved that NASA could navigate and remotely operate wheeled robots on another planet. Name X.
A: Rocker-bogie
Q: Which Mars rover, originally slated to operate for 90 days, trekked nearly 45 km over 15 earth years, often through dust storms, and eventually discovered hematite spherules called blueberries? The rover also finally transmitted the haunting message: “My battery is low and it’s getting dark” before going silent in 2018.
A: Opportunity
Q: Name the plutonium‑powered rover that descended Mars’s Gale Crater in 2012 using a dramatic sky‑crane. The rover was able to drill into mudstones on Mars’s Mount Sharp, revealing that ancient lakes there once hosted the ingredients necessary for microbial life.
A: Curiosity
Q: Identify the six‑wheeled rover that rolled out from China’s Chang’e‑4 lander onto the moon’s far side in 2019, becoming the first robotic mission to access this part of the moon’s surface. The rover used ground‑penetrating radar to study the layered megaregolith under its wheels.
A: Yutu-2
Published – July 30, 2025 11:26 am IST