Who was the first American to orbit the Earth? a) John Glenn b) Edward White c) Alexy Leonov d) Sally Ride What shape is the Milky Way? a) barbell b) blob c) spherical d) spiral How long does it take the Earth to go around the Sun? a) 1 day b) 1 year c) 1 month d) 28 days True or false: the Earth orbits the Sun (true) True or false: the sun is a star (true) Who was the first person to walk on the moon? a) John Glenn b) Gus Grissom c) Alan Shepard d) Neil Armstrong What is the true planet farthest from the Sun? a) Uranus b) Xena c) Neptune d) Pluto What is the closest planet to the Sun? a) Mercury b) Venus c) Mars d) Jupiter What is the third planet from the Sun? a) Earth b) Venus c) Mars d) Jupiter What is the term for a natural satellite? a) a satellitoid b) a planetoid c) a moon d) a moon-like object What is the name of a building that contains telescopes? a) telescopium b) planetarium c) watch tower d) observatory What object’s gravitational pull is so great that not even light can escape from it? a) wormhole b) black hole c) gravity well d) dark matter
What is a small object made of ice, frozen gas, and dust that orbits the sun called? a) an asteroid b) a comet c) a meteor d) a meteroid What is the name of NASA’s most famous space telescope? a) Yerkes b) Kitt Peak c) Palomar d) Hubble Which planet has a surface and atmosphere most like the Earth? a) Mercury b) Venus c) Mars d) Jupiter Earth’s tides are caused by gravitational pulls by: a) the Earth b) the Sun c) the Moon d) the Moon and Sun Which is the brightest known comet in the solar system? a) Tempel b) Hyakutake c) Halley’s Comet d) Lovejoy What is the name of the first satellite sent into space? a) Vela b) Vostok c) Echo d) Sputnik Which planet is the densest? a) Earth b) Venus c) Mars d) Mercury The first weather satellite launched was a) Vanguard b) Tiros c) Nimbus d) Echo What is the name of the space shuttle destroyed in midair 28 Jan 1986? a) Atlantis b) Endeavour c) Challenger d) Columbia Who was the first man in space? a) John Glenn b) Yuri Gagarin c) Alan Shephard d) Gherman Titov What is the most distant object visible to the naked eye? a) Saturn b) Andromeda galaxy c) The Sun d) The Milky Way What is the brightest star in the night sky at any time? a) Alpha Centauri b) North Star c) Sirius d) Venus
What force bends light rays travelling though the universe? A) Gravity B) Light is not bent C) Other light rays D) Inertia What US state is the Palomar telescope in? A) New Mexico B) California C) Arizona D) Colorado Where, theoretically, might one find objects squeezed to an infinite density? A) Inside a star B) Inside a supernova C) Inside a quasar D) Inside a black hole What kind of extraterrestrial object has been named after the 17th-century astronomer Edmond Halley? A) A moon of Jupiter B) A comet C) An asteroid D) A star Where is the chromosphere? A) the Sun B) the Moon C) On Earth D) On Jupiter What was the name of Yuri Gagarin's space capsule? A) Mercury 1 B) Gemini 2 C) Apollo 3 D) Vostock 1 Which planet has a year which is shorter than its day? A) Mercury B) Venus C) Mars D) Jupiter What is the only space program named after two living things? A) Mercury B) Gemini C) Apollo D) The Shuttle program What is the smallest planet in the Solar System? A) Mercury B) Venus C) Mars D) Pluto What is the constellation named after a hunter? A) Aquarius B) Orion C) Taurus D) Pegasus Ganymede and Io are moons of which planet? A) Mars B) Jupiter C) Saturn D) Neptune Where is Earth in the Milky Way galaxy? A) The center B) The edge of the rim C) Closer to the center than the rim D) Almost exactly in the middle between the center and the rim
Who was the first American in space? A) John Glenn B) Gus Grissom C) Alan Shepard D) Neil Armstrong Which planet was once thought to be covered by a network of canals? A) Earth B) Mars C) Jupiter D) Saturn Which is the largest asteroid in the solar system? A) Ceres B) Magna C) Humonga D) Massivo Which theory states that the Universe was created after an explosion? A) Detonation Theory B) Explosion Theory C) Implosion Theory D) Big Bang Theory What type of creatures were Laska and Beny who went into space in 1958? A) Dogs B) Apes C) Mice D) Spiders Which element makes up over 90% of the atoms in our galaxy? A) Oxygen B) Hydrogen C) Iron D) Nitrogen Which planet has the Cassini Division? A) Jupiter (division in the cloud layers) B) Earth (a way of calculating hard division problems) C) Saturn (divisions in the rings) D) Uranus/Neptune (the point halfway between their orbits) In 1986 which body within the solar system was explored by the European Giotto space probe? A) The Moon B) Mars C) The Sun D) Halley's Comet Which is the nearest star to the Earth, after the sun? A) Alpha Centauri B) Beta Centauri C) Proxima Centauri D) Gamma Centauri Triton and Nereid are satellites of which planet? A) Jupiter B) Saturn C) Uranus D) Neptune Who in 1965 became the first person to walk in Space? A) John Glenn B) Edward White C) Alexy Leonov D) Sally Ride What is the largest interplanetary spacecraft ever built? A) Vela satellite B) Voyager 1, in the outer solar system C) Cassini, currently on its way to Saturn D) Solar Probe Plus
How far away is space? A) 62 miles B) 620 miles C) 6200 miles D) 62,000 miles What was the first U.S. space project? A) Mercury B) Gemini C) Apollo D) Sputnik What was the second U.S. space project? A) Mercury B) Gemini C) Apollo D) Sputnik How many U.S. Space Shuttles were built? A) 4 B) 5 C) 6 D) 7 Atlantis, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Endeavor, Enterprise What is a neutron star? A) a stellar explosion B) material falling into super massive black holes C) the collapsed core of a massive star D) a rapidly rotating object that emits regular pulses How many men have walked on the moon? A) 4 B) 8 C) 12 D) 20 Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Pete Conrad, Alan Bean, Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, David Scott, James Irwin, John Young, Charles Duke, Eugene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt The International Space Station was built by the US, Russia, Europe, Japan, and…? A) France B) Canada C) China D) Brazil Who won the $10 million X-Prize, the prize to send a reusable launch vehicle to space twice within a two-week period in 2004? A) X-Corp Aerospace B) Scaled Composites C) Bigelow Aerospace D) Blue Origin What is a supernova? A) a stellar explosion B) material falling into super massive black holes C) the collapsed core of a massive star D) a rapidly rotating object that emits regular pulses What is a quasar? A) a stellar explosion B) material falling into super massive black holes C) the collapsed core of a massive star D) a rapidly rotating object that emits regular pulses What was the third U.S. space project? A) Mercury B) Gemini C) Apollo D) Sputnik How many moons does Jupiter have? A) None B) One C) 4 D) 63 (as of Feb 2004)
What is Jupiter made of? A) Mostly methane B) Mostly hydrogen C) Mostly hydrochloric acid D) Mostly rock How long does it take for the Sun's light to reach the Earth? A) No time – it is immediate B) 1 minute C) 8 minutes D) 1 hour Which astronaut was the only one of the Mercury 7 astronauts to fly in all three of NASA's 'Moon Shot' programs (Mercury, Gemini and Apollo)? A) John Glenn B) Wally Schirra C) Gus Grissom D) Sally Ride How many of the original Mercury 7 astronauts walked on the moon? A) None B) 1 C) 2 D) All 7 (Only one, Alan Shepard, walked on the moon) What are cosmic rays? A) an explosion on the Sun B) high energy charged particles originating in outer space C) charged particles trapped by Earth's magnetic field D) a space tornado What is the big red spot on Jupiter? A) A hurricane- like storm system B) A gas cloud C) Possible life forms D) Hydrochloric acid What is the Van Allen belt? A) an explosion on the Sun B) high energy charged particles originating in outer space C) charged particles trapped by Earth's magnetic field D) a space tornado What is a parsec? A) astronomical unit of length B) astronomical unit of time C) astronomical unit of mass D) astronomical unit of density How far is the nearest black hole? A) About 1 light year from Earth B) About 2 light years from Earth C) About 1,600 light years from Earth D) The center of the Milky way galaxy 25,000 light years from Earth How many flights did Columbia make in its lifetime? A) 8 B) 18 C) 28 D) 38 Who was the first African-American astronaut? A) John Glenn B) Gus Grissom C) Guy Bluford D) Bernard Harris Who was the first African-American to perform a spacewalk? A) John Glenn B) Gus Grissom C) Guy Bluford D) Bernard Harris
Who was the first teacher in space? A) Sally Ride B) Christa McAuliffe C) Kathy Sullivan D) Sunita Williams Where does the element gold come from? A) The core of a small star B) A stellar explosion C) Space dust D) The center of a black hole What are Saturn's rings made of? A) Sulfuric acid B) Dust C) Ice D) Hydrogen What is a solar flare? A) an explosion on the Sun B) high energy charged particles originating in outer space C) charged particles trapped by Earth's magnetic field D) a space tornado What is a constellation? A) Another solar system B) A binary star system C) Another galaxy D) A group of stars that, when seen from Earth, form a pattern What is a pulsar? A) a stellar explosion B) material falling into super massive black holes C) the collapsed cores of some massive stars D) a rapidly rotating celestial object that emits regular pulses Who was the first American woman astronaut to perform a spacewalk? A) Sally Ride B) Christa McAuliffe C) Kathy Sullivan D) Sunita Williams What is a black hole? A) A star with a high carbon content B) A region from which not even light can escape C) The space between planets D) The space between galaxies How old is the universe? A) About 15,000 years old B) About 15 million years old C) About 15 billion years old D) About 15 trillion years old In what year did the first people walk on the moon? A) 1967 B) 1968 C) 1969 D) 1970 Who was the first American to walk in Space? A) John Glenn B) Edward White C) Alexy Leonov D) Sally Ride What was the first space station called? A) Tiangong 1 B) Salyut 1 C) International Space Station (ISS) D) Mir