QUESTION 16
GS3
15 marks
What are asteroids? How real is the threat of them causing extinction of life? What strategies have been developed to prevent such a catastrophe?
WRITE IN
11 min
250 words
What the examiner wants
Explain what asteroids are, how real the extinction threat is, and what strategies exist to prevent impacts.
ExplainMake clear how and why it happens: causes, process, and an example for each point.
Demand-wise check
- 1Asteroids: rocky bodies mainly in the belt between Mars and Jupiter; near-Earth objects≈65 words
- 2Threat: rare but real (Chicxulub, 66 million years ago; Tunguska 1908; Chelyabinsk 2013); large impacts very rare, smaller ones more frequent≈65 words
- 3Strategies: detection and tracking (NASA PDCO, NEO Surveyor), kinetic impactor (DART, 2022), gravity tractor, nuclear option; ISRO's planned role (Apophis 2029)≈65 words
Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.
Answer plan
DefineThreat assessmentDetectionDeflection strategiesIndiaConclusion
Where marks usually go
- Exaggerating the threat without probability
- Missing DART
Draw this
- Diagram of the kinetic impactor method
Value addition
- ExampleNASA's DART mission (2022) changed the orbit of moonlet Dimorphos by about 32 minutes.NASA
- FactAsteroid Apophis will pass within about 32,000 km of Earth in April 2029.NASA / ESA
Mapped topper copies
Reviewed public-source references related to this PYQ. Same-syllabus references are labelled separately.
- Shakti Dubey · AIR 1 · Page 38 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Aniket Ranjan · AIR 48 · Page 38 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Mayank Purohit · AIR 33 · Page 9 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Aniket Ranjan · AIR 48 · Page 11 ↗Same syllabus reference
Links open original public sources. MainsBuddy does not host these answer sheets.
Next: plan for one minute, write it in 11 minutes, then get it checked.