Fly Me to the Moon Trivia Quiz

Answer: World War II

The V-2 rockets were originally developed in Germany towards the end of the Second World War and attacked targets in England and Belgium. When the war ended, in 1945, the scientists who had worked on the rockets moved to the USA and continued their work there. This formed the basis of the space exploration programme in America.

The photo is of two Spitfire aircraft, which were flown by members of the Royal Air Force during World War II.

Answer: Monkey

During the 1940s and 1950s various creatures were sent up in aircraft to test how they reacted. Fruit flies were sent into space in 1947, followed by several flights carrying monkeys. Albert II was a rhesus monkey and the first one to travel beyond the boundaries of space. Sadly, he died when the parachute that was meant to return him safely to earth failed.

The photo is not of Albert, but shows another monkey named Able who flew into space and returned alive in 1959.

Answer: Satellite

Sputnik just means satellite in English. Sputnik I was launched on 4 October 1957 and became the first artificial satellite in orbit. Sputnik remained in orbit for three months, covering over 40 million miles, before falling back to earth. As it reached the earth's atmosphere, the satellite burned up.

The photo shows a replica of Sputnik I. The projections are antennae (there were four in all, although you can see only three) which transmitted to earth while the satellite was in space.

Answer: Gemini

Gemini means twins in Latin, so was a good name for the programme. The first American manned flight programme was called Mercury, and began in 1958. This sent one man at a time into space, with John Glenn being the first American to orbit the earth. The Gemini programme was run at the same time as the Apollo programme, which put three men at a time into space.

The photograph shows the Gemini constellation, with the twin stars of Castor and Pollux - the photo is a German one, so the spelling is slightly different.

Answer: USSR

Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the earth on 12 April 1961. His spacecraft, called Vostok, was launched from Kazakhstan which was, at the time, part of the USSR. The flight lasted just under two hours, and was controlled from the ground. The spacecraft landed back in Kazakhstan, with Gagarin having ejected from it to land using a parachute.

The photo shows a version of the Soviet flag as it was at the time of the flight. The hammer and sickle were symbols of the USSR.

Answer: Cosmonauts

The name comes from the Greek language, with 'kosmos' meaning 'universe' and 'nautes' meaning 'sailor'. The English language version also comes from Greek, with 'astron' meaning 'star', so both names mean someone who sails in space rather than on the sea.

The picture is several versions of the letter C to point you towards the answer starting with that letter.

Answer: Buzz

Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to actually land men on the moon, which happened on 20 July 1969. The Apollo missions had three men on board, but only Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin actually set foot on the moon. The third man, Michael Collins, remained in orbit around the moon. Buzz Aldrin's nickname came about because his sister couldn't say the word 'brother'; her version sounded like 'buzzer' and was shortened to Buzz. He officially changed his name to Buzz in 1988.

The photo is of a bee, which makes a buzzing sound.

Answer: Skylab

Skylab was launched in 1973 and went into orbit even though it had suffered a lot of damage during the launch. Ten days later a manned mission was sent to the space station and the astronauts on board were able to carry out several repairs. Only three spacecraft visited Skylab, although the astronauts spent quite a long time on the station. The final mission lasted from 16 November 1973 until 8 February 1974. Skylab returned to earth in 1979 with parts of the debris landing in Australia.

The photo is of some sky, to help you pick the right answer.

Answer: China

China sent its first astronaut, a man named Yang Liwei, into space on 15 October 2003. The mission was called Shenzhou 5 and the spacecraft made fourteen orbits of the earth. Since that first success, China has sent astronauts into orbit several more times.

The picture is of a giant panda, the national animal of China, which is the only country where pandas can be found in the wild.

Answer: Administration

NASA was set up in 1958 when President Eisenhower signed an act to authorise the new agency. It took over from the previous National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics which had already been working on the development of rocket powered flight. NASA was in charge of all the USA's space programmes.

The picture is of an addition sum, which I hope helped you to choose Administration as the right answer.