Space Cadets (2) Trivia Quiz

Answer: USSR

On the 3rd of February 1966, the unmanned Soviet spacecraft Luna 9 made the first soft landing on the moon. That landing went as follows:

- 8,300 kilometres/5,200 miles from the surface: The ship's spin was stopped and it was orientated into position so that the retro-rockets could be fired.
- 75 kilometres/47 miles from the surface: The side modules of the ship were jettisoned. The landing airbags were inflated and the retro-rocket, to aid the landing, was fired.
- 250 metres/820 feet from the surface: Planned velocity was reached so the retro-rocket was turned off. Four outrigger engines were fired to further slow the descent.
- 5 metres/16 feet from the surface: A contact sensor made contact with the moon's surface and this triggered a shutdown of the engines, the landing capsule to be ejected and the final inflation of the airbags.
- Touchdown: This occurred at a speed of 22 kilometres/14 miles per hour. The capsule came to rest in Oceanus Procellarum after bouncing several times.

Answer: USSR

Launched on 16th November 1965, the Soviet spacecraft Venera 3 was on a mission to land and explore the surface of the planet Venus. The probe was armed with electrical power sources, communication equipment and a range of scientific instruments.

The initial trajectory was out of alignment and the probe missed the planet by some 60,550 kilometres (37,625 miles). A course correction maneuver was conducted on Boxing Day, 1965 which then set the probe on course. Contact with the probe was lost on February 15, 1966. However. it was then identified that it crashed into the surface of Venus two weeks later.

Answer: USSR

Luna 10, as part of the Soviet's "Luna" programme, became the moon's first artificial satellite. It was launched on March 31, 1966, had a mid-course correction made the following day and entered its orbit of the moon on April 3. Three hours later it completed its first orbit.

The craft was able to provide valuable data concerning the strength of the moon's magnetic field, the nature of the rocks on its surface and also details of the moon's radiation belt. However, the most prized finding of the mission, was the discovery of mascon (areas of mass concentrations) on the moon. The moon is considered to be one of the most "lumpy" major bodies in our solar system in respect to gravitational fields. The discovery of a mascon in a certain area could mean that it carried an increase in gravitational force of at least half a percentage point, which could be quite significant.

Answer: USSR

Launched by the Soviets in September of 1968, Zond 5, a version of the Soyuz 7K-L1, became the first spacecraft from Earth to both circle the moon and then return to Earth.

On board the craft for this mission were two tortoises, fruit fly eggs and a variety of plants. All of the specimens that ventured out were recovered after the craft splashed down in the Indian Ocean, a little under seven days after it had taken off. The only significant changes that had occurred were with the tortoises. However, this was put down to the creatures not taking in sufficient food, rather than any effect of the space travel.

Answer: USSR

The two ships involved were the Soyuz 4, which launched on January 14, 1969 with cosmonaut Valdimir Shatalar on board and Soyuz 5, carrying Yevgeny Khrunov, Aleksei Yeliseyev and Boris Volynov. The two ships docked on January 16, 1969. Both Khrunov and Yeliseyev then made their way from Soyuz 4 to Soyuz 4 by spacewalking across, while Volynov remained behind to both crew the ship and film the transfer.

Four hours and 35 minutes later the two ships separated. The entire exercise provided the information that the Soviets were anxious for, to prove that they had the ingredients to make a lunar landing a possibility

Answer: USA

On March 16, 1966, Gemini 8, under the guidance of Neil Armstrong, would rendezvous and dock with the unmanned Gemini-Agena Target Vehicle (GATV), a craft specifically created to develop and practice docking techniques.

This opened the door to a range of other docking trials (and not just for the USA):
- The Soviets completed the first automated (where both craft were unmanned) docking almost a year and a half later in October, 1967. The two craft were the Cosmos 186 and Cosmos 188.
- The Soviets would also complete the first docking where both of the ships were manned. This was between the Soyuz crafts 4 and 5, however, the docking equipment was rudimentary, which meant the transfer of cosmonauts from one ship to the other was conducted via space walks.
- The Americans would achieve the first "internal" transfer between two ships a mere two months after the Soviets efforts with Soyuz 4 and 5.

Answer: USA

Lunar Orbiter 1, launched in 1966, took the first two pictures of the Earth from the moon. However, this was not the primary mission of the craft. Aside from data in respect to the moon's geology, radiation intensity and meteor impacts, it was required to commence a creation of a map of the moon. To this end, it produce a range of photographs that covered five million square miles of the lunar surface, completing approximately 75% of its mission.

Answer: USA

Surveyor 6 landed on the lunar surface on November 10, 1967, with its primary mission to take further photographs of the moon's surface, measure soil chemistry, conduct erosion experiments and obtain both thermal and radar reflectivity information for the Apollo project. To add further weight to the craft's achievements, a week after landing, it completed a task no other space vehicle that had landed on the moon had... it burned for 2.5 seconds to achieve the first liftoff by an Earth craft from another celestial body.

Answer: USA

This was achieved by the crew of Apollo 10 in what became, essentially, a dress rehearsal for the first moon landing, which would take place two months later.

The Apollo 10 mission was conducted between May 18 and May 26 in 1969. On board were astronauts John Young, Thomas Stafford and Gene Cernan. While Young remained in the Command Service Module (CSM), Stafford and Cernan flew the Landing Module (LM) to within (almost) 14 kilometres (8 miles) of the moon's service. In the mission to follow, that of Apollo 11, it would be at this point that the crew would commence their power descent to make the moon landing.

After holding their position for four orbits, the pair returned, docking the LM with the CSM and then returning to Earth. There were some calls for Apollo 10 to be the mission that would see the first man land and then set foot on the moon, but prudence won over and it was used as purely a practice run.

Answer: USA

The first moon landing was part of the mission of Apollo 11, which landed on the Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969. Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the lunar surface and he was followed, soon after, by the Lunar Module pilot, "Buzz" Aldrin. The third member of the crew, Michael Collins, remained on board the Command Service Module.

Other significant firsts that arose from this mission included:
- The first words to be spoken on another world
- The first samples to be returned to Earth from another celestial body and
- The first crewed space launch from another celestial body.