UPSC Prelims 2016 · Question 72 of 98
UPSC Prelims 2016 question on Greased Lightning Electric Aircraft
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2016
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectScience and Technology
- TopicSpace Technology
- DifficultyHard
- TypeDirect
What is ‘Greased Lightning-10 (GL-10)’, recently in the news?
Show answer
Answer: A. Electric plane tested by NASA
Verdict
The answer is an electric plane tested by NASA. Greased Lightning or GL-10 is a ten engine electric aircraft.
Analysis
The GL-10 is a NASA prototype with ten electric engines, designed to take off and land vertically like a helicopter and then transition to efficient winged flight like a conventional aircraft, combining the advantages of both. The Japanese solar aircraft option, the Chinese space observatory option and the ISRO reusable rocket option each describe genuine developments of that general period, which is why the question rewards precise attribution rather than vague recognition.
Source
The Hindu report on NASA's ten engine electric plane completing a flight test.
How to crack it
The name encodes the machine, since Greased Lightning suggests speed and agility rather than an orbital or launch system, and the numeral 10 in GL-10 corresponds to the engine count. Where a project has an informal nickname plus a designation number, check whether the number describes a physical feature. More generally, keep a running log of named technology demonstrators with their agency, because this question type rewards the agency and country pairing above all.
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