UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 3 : Questions on Olive Ridley turtles and SpaDeX Mission (Week 87)

QUESTION 2

Discuss the significance of ISRO’s successful execution of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX). What are the challenges involved with the docking process and highlight its potential implications for future missions.

General points on the structure of the answers

Introduction

— The introduction of the answer is essential and should be restricted to 3-5 lines. Remember, a one-liner is not a standard introduction.

— It may consist of basic information by giving some definitions from the trusted source and authentic facts.

Body

— It is the central part of the answer and one should understand the demand of the question to provide rich content.

— The answer must be preferably written as a mix of points and short paragraphs rather than using long paragraphs or just points.

— Using facts from authentic government sources makes your answer more comprehensive. Analysis is important based on the demand of the question, but do not over analyse.

QUESTION 1: The recent widespread mortality of Olive Ridley turtles on Tamil Nadu’s coastline has sparked serious environmental concerns. Discuss the underlying causes of these mortality and assess the efficacy of current conservation strategies in place to safeguard this vulnerable species.

Introduction:

— The olive ridley’s heart-shaped shell is olive green in colour, hence the name. The species is among the world’s tiniest sea turtles, living largely in the tropical parts of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans.

— Over the last two weeks, a large number of dead olive ridley turtles have come ashore in Tamil Nadu, particularly Chennai.

— Olive ridley turtles arrive along the Tamil Nadu coast in September and October to breed. Their nesting season begins in late November and concludes in March. Although deaths during nesting season are not uncommon, the enormous number of turtle bodies discovered so early in the nesting season has raised worries among environmentalists and people.

— The Tree Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to sea turtle conservation, reported that dead olive ridley turtles have been discovered around Chennai and the adjoining Kancheepuram district.

Body:

Reason behind the deaths

— The turtles mate near shorelines, and females gather in small groups to nest on Tamil Nadu’s beaches. As a result, they frequently become trapped in lengthy fishing nets of commercial trawlers as bycatch (unintentional capture of non-target marine life) and die.

— K Sivakumar, a Pondicherry University’s Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences professor, stated that olive ridley turtles must swim to the water surface to breathe. “If they become entangled in nets, they asphyxiate and die.”

— Because there were more fish near turtle gathering locations, more trawlers would have been there, resulting in turtle deaths.

— Turtles are omnivorous, thus they may have fed on fish in regions where fishing vessels were active.

Conservation initiatives

— Olive ridleys are deemed vulnerable because they have fallen by more than 30% (ranging from 31 to 36%) from historical levels and have few surviving nesting locations around the world. As a result, they are classified as vulnerable by the IUCN.

— They are included in Appendix I of CITES, which restricts international trade. This species is also mentioned in Appendices I and II of the Convention on Migratory Species.

— Conservation efforts for olive ridley turtles in India have relied on well-coordinated national programs in collaboration with local communities and non-governmental organisations, with a primary focus on public outreach and education.

— Several organisations, including WWF-India, as well as the fishing community, are working in various ways to secure the hatchlings’ safe transit to the sea. Millions of turtles nest on the Gahirmatha coast, which is considered the world’s largest known turtle rookery.

Conclusion:

— Olive ridley turtles lay eggs in numerous coastal states along India’s east and west coast. However, large nesting occurs in Odisha, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

(Source: Why dead olive ridley turtles are washing ashore in Tamil Nadu by Nikhil Ghanekar)

Points to Ponder

What are the threats to survival of olive ridley turtles?

Nesting locations of olive ridley turtles

Related Previous Year Questions

How does biodiversity vary in India? How is the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 helpful in conservation of flora and fauna? (2018)

‘Climate change’ is a global problem. How will India be affected by climate change? How Himalayan and coastal states of India be affected by climate change? (2017)

QUESTION 2: Discuss the significance of ISRO’s successful execution of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX). What are the challenges involved with the docking process and highlight its potential implications for future missions.

Introduction:

— With the docking of satellites as part of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX), India became the fourth country to accomplish such a difficult achievement after the United States, Russia, and China.

— On December 30, ISRO placed two satellites — SDX01, the Chaser, and SDX02, the Target — in a low-Earth circular orbit and later separated them by around 20 kilometres in space. The Chaser satellite was scheduled to approach the Target satellite by strategically reducing the distance between them to 5 km, 1.5 km, 500 m, 225 m, 15 m, and 3 m before the final docking.

Body:

Challenges involved in docking

— Strong or gusty winds, lightning or an electrically charged atmosphere, and oncoming or ongoing cyclones or storms are all potential disruptions to the docking procedure.

— Enhanced high energy radiation or solar energetic particles caused by strong Sun flares can blind sensors and interfere with electronic control systems.

— The sun’s magnetic storms, known as coronal mass ejections or very high-speed solar wind streams, can disrupt the space environment, causing communication and location mistakes. If these occur when docking is being attempted, a new set of uncertainty emerges that are difficult to manage.

— The peak phase of the solar activity cycle has more sunspots and is usually associated with more severe space weather conditions. This renders any space manoeuvres unconducive, particularly docking (or undocking), which needs minuscule relative velocity and perfect alignment of their docking ports to avoid collision or damage.

Potential implications for future missions

— Docking will be a critical move in future space missions like as Chandrayaan-4 and the establishment of the Bharatiya Antariksha Station, where several components must dock in space.

— The SpaDeX demonstration emphasises the importance of investing more to provide stronger space weather forecasts in near real-time, much as weather forecasts are critical on Earth to preserve lives and important infrastructure from severe weather.

— Space weather forecasts and near-real-time assessments of space environmental conditions are important when planning a key job in orbit during this solar maximum phase.

Conclusion:

— This technology is critical for India’s space objectives, such as Indian on the Moon, sample return from the Moon, and the construction and operation of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS).

— Following successful docking and rigidization, electrical power transfer between the two spacecraft will be demonstrated before undocking and separating the two satellites to begin functioning of their individual payloads for the mission’s projected two-year duration.

(Source: How the Sun played a role in SpaDex success by Anjali Marar, http://www.isro.gov.in)

Points to Ponder

Docking Mechanism

Primary objective of the SpaDeX mission

Components of SpaDeX mission

Related Previous Year Questions

What is the main task of India’s third moon mission which could not be achieved in its earlier mission? List the countries that have achieved this task. Introduce the subsystems in the spacecraft launched and explain the role of the Virtual Launch Control Centre’ at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre which contributed to the successful launch from Sriharikota.(2023)

What are asteroids? How real is the threat of them causing extinction of life? What strategies have been developed to prevent such a catastrophe? (2024)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 86)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 85)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 86)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 85)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 86)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 85)

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