Men on a Mission Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alan Shepard

The first manned space mission in American history was designated as Mercury-Redstone 3. It was launched on May 5, 1961. Its passenger was Alan Shepard (1923-1998), the first American to be launched into space. The Redstone rocket was used to launch the Freedom 7 Mercury capsule on a suborbital spaceflight, which lasted a little over fifteen minutes.

This would be Alan Shepard's only spaceflight until Apollo 14 in 1970 as he had been grounded with an ear ailment in 1963. All Mercury flights that flew previous to Mercury-Redstone 3 were either unmanned or flew with chimpanzees.

Answer: Gus Grissom

Mercury-Redstone 4 was launched on July 21, 1961. It was another fifteen minute suborbital flight, this time flown by Virgil "Gus" Grissom (1926-1967). His Mercury capsule was given the name Liberty Bell 7. To commemmorate the name, the spacecraft had a crack painted on it to resemble the real Liberty Bell.

This would be a bad omen as the Liberty Bell 7 sank when the hatch blew prematurely after splashdown. Grissom was recovered, but the spacecraft would remain at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean until 1999.

Answer: John Glenn

Mercury-Atlas 6 was the first manned mission to use the Atlas LV-3B rocket. It provided enough power to send the spacecraft into orbit around the Earth. MA-6 was launched on February 20, 1962 with John Glenn (1921-2016) aboard the Friendship 7 Mercury capsule. John Glenn completed three orbits around the Earth before splashing down nearly five hours later. John Glenn would not fly another mission until 1998, when he launched aboard the space shuttle for mission STS-95.

He was sent to study the effects of space travel on the elderly, as he was 77 years old at the time.

Answer: Scott Carpenter

Malcolm Scott Carpenter (1925-2013) flew the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission, which was launched on May 24, 1962. The Mercury capsule for this mission was given the name Aurora 7. It was basically a repeat of John Glenn's mission. Aurora 7 made three orbits before returning to the Earth.

Unfortunately, only six of the Mercury Seven astronauts flew during Project Mercury. Donald "Deke" Slayton was originally scheduled to fly on MA-7, but he was grounded due to health issues. Deke Slayton eventually flew aboard the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission in 1975.

Answer: Wally Schirra

Wally Schirra (1923-2007) was the astronaut who flew aboard Mercury-Atlas 8, which was launched on October 3, 1962. The Mercury capsule for this mission was given the name Sigma 7. Sigma 7 orbited the Earth six times during its nine hour long mission.

The name for each Mercury spacecraft was chosen by the astronaut who flew the mission. The number 7 was then added to each name to honor the entire Mercury Seven astronaut team. Had Deke Slayton flown during Project Mercury, his ship would have been named Delta 7.

Answer: Gordon Cooper

Mercury-Atlas 9 was the final mission of Project Mercury. It was launched on May 15, 1963 with astronaut Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. (1927-2004) onboard. For this mission, Gordon Cooper named his spacecraft Faith 7. MA-9 was the longest mission of Project Mercury.

The spacecraft remained in space for more than 34 hours and completed 22 orbits around the Earth. There were originally more missions planned for Project Mercury, but NASA felt its objectives were met and decided to move on to Project Gemini.

Answer: Gus Grissom / John Young

Gemini 3 was the first manned mission of the Project Gemini program. It was launched on March 23, 1965 with astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young (1930-2018) onboard. This was the first and only Gemini spacecraft to receive a name. Following Gus Grissom's experience with Liberty Bell 7, the spacecraft was named Molly Brown after the musical "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" which debuted in 1960. Gemini 3 completed three orbits before returning to the Earth.

Much to Gus Grissom's delight, the ship did not sink after splashdown. Sadly, Gus Grissom would later be one of the astronauts killed during the Apollo 1 fire in 1967.

Answer: James McDivitt / Ed White

Gemini 4 was launched on June 3, 1965. The mission would feature astronauts James McDivitt and Edward H. White, II (1930-1967). On this mission, Ed White would become the first American to walk in space. He floated outside the spacecraft for approximately 20 minutes, while tethered to the spacecraft. Sadly, Ed White would also be killed during the Apollo 1 fire in 1967. James McDivitt flew aboard the Apollo 9 mission in 1969, which tested the Lunar Module while in Earth's orbit.

The Gemini 4 mission lasted for four days and completed 66 orbits around the Earth.

Answer: Gordon Cooper / Pete Conrad

Gemini 5 was launched on August 21, 1965 with astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles "Pete" Conrad (1930-1999) onboard. The primary objective of the mission was simply to extend the time in orbit. The original mission patch for Gemini 5 featured a covered wagon along with the slogan "8 Days or Bust".

The final design omitted the slogan, just in case the mission had failed. However, the spacecraft did achieve its objective and returned to Earth on August 29, 1965 after eight calendar days in orbit.

Answer: Frank Borman / Jim Lovell

You may be wondering, "What happened to Gemini 6?" Well, Gemini 7 was the next mission to fly in Project Gemini. It was the first mission to feature astronauts Jim Lovell and Frank Borman. Gemini 7 was launched on December 4, 1965. Gemini 6 ended up being delayed after the Agena Target Vehicle, which was to accompany it was destroyed during launch. Gemini 6 (officially designated as Gemini 6A) featured astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford. Gemini 6 was eventually launched on December 15, 1965 with a different mission objective. Gemini 6 and 7 would perform America's first successful rendezvous between two manned ships in orbit. Gemini 6 returned to Earth the next day, while Gemini 7 remained in orbit until December 18, 1965 (14 calendar days total).

Answer: Neil Armstrong / David Scott

Gemini 8 was the first official mission for astronauts Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) and David Scott. It was also the first mission to utilize the Agena Target Vehicle. The Agena was an unmanned vehicle designed for the astronauts to practice rendezvous and docking in space in order to prepare for the lunar module with Apollo.

The Agena was launched ahead of Gemini 8, on March 16, 1966. The initial docking with the Agena was successful. However, after the docking, the combined spacecraft began to yaw uncontrollably. Neil Armstrong disconnected from the Agena, but the Gemini spacecraft entered a flat spin. Neil Armstrong had to fire the reentry engines to bring the spacecraft under control.

The astronauts were forced to abort the mission after only 10 hours in orbit and returned to Earth safely.

Answer: Tom Stafford / Gene Cernan

Gemini 9 (officially designated as Gemini 9A) was launched on June 3, 1966. This was the first mission to be operated by the backup crew, Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan (1934-2017). Gemini 9's original crew was supposed to have been Elliot See (1927-1966) and Charles Bassett (1931-1966), but both astronauts were killed when their T-38 training aircraft crashed near St. Louis, Missouri on February 28, 1966. Gemini 9 was to make another attempt at docking with the Agena Target Vehicle, but it was again destroyed after another launch failure. NASA had sent a backup device (the ATDA/Augmented Target Docking Adapter) to practice docking, but this device also failed as the payload fairing failed to separate after it arrived in orbit.

Answer: John Young / Michael Collins

Gemini 10 was launched on July 18, 1966. It featured John Young (his second Gemini mission) and Michael Collins. This was the first mission to achieve a successful docking with the Agena Target Vehicle without incident. In fact, Gemini 10 also rendezvoused and docked with the Agena vehicle left behind from Gemini 8. John Young would later visit the moon twice aboard Apollo 10 and 16. John Young also served aboard the first mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1) in 1981. Michael Collins would become the command module pilot for the historic Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

Answer: Pete Conrad / Dick Gordon

Gemini 11 featured astronauts Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon (1929-2017). It was launched on September 12, 1966 and again featured the Agena Target Vehicle. The Agena, in addition to being a vehicle to practice rendezvous and docking, allowed the spacecraft to change to higher or lower orbits. Gemini 11 holds the 20th century record for highest sustained orbit above the Earth by a manned spacecraft (850 mi/1,370 km). Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon would later fly to the moon together aboard Apollo 12 in 1969.

Answer: Jim Lovell / Buzz Aldrin

Gemini 12 was the second mission for Jim Lovell and the first for Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. It was launched on November 11, 1966. The astronauts were again able to successfully dock and maneuver with the Agena Target Vehicle. Gemini 12 was the final mission of the Gemini Program as NASA moved forward with the Apollo Program. Jim Lovell would later fly to the moon twice aboard Apollo 8 and 13. Buzz Aldrin, of course, landed on the moon along with Neil Armstrong aboard the historic Apollo 11 mission.