Interplanetary Knowledge Trivia Quiz

Answer: Deke Slayton

Donald Kent (aka Deke) Slayton (1924-1993) was one of the seven original astronauts chosen to fly during NASA's Project Mercury. He was originally scheduled to fly aboard Mercury-Atlas 7 in May, 1962, however he was grounded indefinitely after doctors discovered an irregular heartbeat two months prior to the mission. Scott Carpenter would fly the mission instead, naming his ship the Aurora 7. Had Deke Slayton flown on the mission, his capsule would have been named Delta 7.

After he was grounded, Deke Slayton took on a managerial role with NASA, eventually becoming the Director of Flight Crew Operations.

In 1972, Deke Slayton's medical condition improved enough to allow doctors to clear him for flight duty. Deke Slayton was chosen as the docking module pilot for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission, which was flown in July, 1975. Deke was 51 years old at the time.

The photograph of the planet Mercury was taken by the MESSENGER spacecraft in 2008.

Answer: Wimbledon

American tennis star Venus Williams began her professional career in 1994 when she was fourteen years old. Her younger sister Serena debuted a year later. In 1999, Venus and Serena both captured their first Grand Slam doubles championship at the French Open where they defeated the team of Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova.

In 2000, Venus would capture her first Grand Slam singles championship at Wimbledon. Venus Williams defeated her sister Serena in the semifinal round of the tournament. She then defeated Lindsay Davenport in the final round. Venus became the world's highest ranking tennis star in 2002. Venus and Serena Williams have since enjoyed highly successful tennis careers, claiming numerous Grand Slam titles as well as gold medals at the Olympic Games.

The photograph of the planet Venus was taken in 1973 by the Mariner 10 spacecraft.

Answer: Super Nintendo

"EarthBound" was released for the Super Nintendo on June 5, 1995 in North America. The game was actually a sequel to the game "Mother", which was released in Japan on July 27, 1989 for the Famicom (Japan's version of the original NES). In Japan, "EarthBound" was known as "Mother 2".

The game centers around a young boy named Ness and three of his friends, who set out to investigate a meteorite that crashed near his town. The "Mother" series was quite popular in Japan. However, in North America the game did not receive as much praise when it was first released. Over time, the popularity of "EarthBound" increased to the point where today its considered a staple of the SNES era. Ness later became a playable character in the popular "Super Smash Bros" fighting game series.

The photograph of the Earth was taken by a satellite named MODIS, which was first launched in 1999.

Answer: Milky Way

The Milky Way candy bar was created by Frank C. Mars (1883-1934) who founded Mars, Incorporated in 1924. The inspiration for the candy's name allegedly came from a flavor of milkshake that was popular at the time and not from the name of the galaxy that we live in.

The American version of the Milky Way candy bar has a nougat filling topped with caramel, which is covered in milk chocolate. The international version of the Milky Way candy bar does not contain caramel and looks very similar to the 3 Musketeers bar, which is another candy bar owned by Mars, Inc.

The international version is said to be able to float on top of a bowl of milk, while the American version is not. The photograph of the planet Mars was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2001.

Answer: Florida

Jupiter, Florida is located on the southeastern coast of the state, approximately 90 miles north of Miami. The name of the city is derived from a local Native American tribe named the Hobe or Jobe. When the Spanish took control of the region, the name of the tribe was written as Jove. Jove is an alternative name used for the Roman god Jupiter, after whom the planet was named.

The Spanish eventually named the area after Jupiter. In 1860, a lighthouse was erected at Jupiter Inlet, a short waterway that links the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian River, which sits between a group of narrow islands and the Florida mainland.

The city of Jupiter was later established on February 9, 1925. Jupiter is one of several Floridian cities used by Major League Baseball to conduct their annual spring training.

The photograph of the planet Jupiter and one of its moons (Europa) was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2020.

Answer: General Motors

The Saturn brand was launched by General Motors on January 7, 1985 in order to better compete with vehicles being imported from Japanese companies such as Toyota and Honda. The logo for Saturn vehicles featured an outline of the planet against a red background.

In 1990, the Saturn SL (a compact sedan) and the Saturn SC (a compact coupe) were the first two models to see production. Initially vehicles were developed exclusively for the Saturn brand, with little commonality with GM's other brands, however this practice would not be maintained over time. Saturn was fairly successful its first few years, however labor and financial issues at General Motors led to the discontinuation of the brand in 2010.

The photograph of the planet Saturn was taken by the Cassini spacecraft in 2004.

Answer: George III

On March 13, 1781, William Herschel (1738-1822) discovered what would eventually be named the planet Uranus. However, when William Herschel first discovered it, he had a different name in mind for it. Herschel wanted the new planet to be named Georgium Sidus (George's Star) after the British monarch at the time, King George III who ruled from 1761-1820.

While it was a noble gesture from Herschel, the name did not sit well with the international community. It was eventually decided to keep with the tradition of naming planets after deities from Greek and Roman mythology and the name was changed to Uranus.

The photograph of the planet Uranus was taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft when it flew passed Uranus in 1986.

Answer: Np

Neptunium, which was named after the big blue gas giant, is element number 93 on the Periodic Table with a symbol of Np. It was discovered in 1940 by scientists Edwin McMillan and Philip Ableson at the University of California, Berkeley. Neptunium was discovered by bombarding atoms of uranium with a neutron using a cyclotron.

The uranium atoms underwent beta decay and were changed into atoms of neptunium. It was also later discovered that this process would also produce the element plutonium, element 94. Neptunium was initially believed to be an artificial element, however it was later discovered that trace amounts of the element can be found in nature.

The photograph of the planet Neptune was also taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, when it flew by Neptune in 1989.

Answer: 1930

On February 18, 1930, American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered what at the time was considered to be the ninth planet, which was named Pluto after the Greek god of the underworld. Several months later, the Disney character Pluto made his debut in the animated short "The Chain Gang" where he was a guard dog sent out to track down Mickey Mouse who had just escaped from prison.

He officially becomes Mickey's pet in the 1931 cartoon short "The Moose Hunt". Some people believe that Walt Disney named the character Pluto in honor of the newly discovered planet.

The photograph of Pluto was taken by the New Horizons spacecraft in 2015, after Pluto had been demoted to a dwarf planet in 2006.

Answer: Ceres

Ceres was once considered to be the largest asteroid in the Asteroid Belt. It was discovered in 1801 by Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi. Much like Pluto, Ceres was initially thought to be a planet. However, subsequent discoveries of other smaller bodies in the same region such as Vesta and Pallas led astronomers to reclassify Ceres as an asteroid. Sedna, Quaoar and Eris are all located in the Kuiper Belt, located beyond the orbit of Neptune. Quaoar was discovered in 2002, Sedna was discovered in 2003 and Eris was discovered in 2005.

The discovery of these and other Kuiper Belt objects caused scientists to question the status of Pluto as a planet. In 2006, when the IAU released the criteria to be considered a planet, it was determined that Pluto did not meet the new requirements.

However, while Pluto ended up getting demoted, Ceres' size prompted the IAU to reclassify it as a dwarf planet as well. The photograph of Ceres was taken by the Dawn spacecraft in 2015.