The Science of Space Travel Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hans Lipperhey

In 1608 a Dutch eyeglass maker developed a device that could "see far away objects as if they were nearby" and because of that named it spyglass. Three years later Galileo improved on the design and turned it towards the stars. The rest is history!

Answer: Where outer space begins

The Karman line is at an altitude of 100 kilometers (or 62 miles). Beyond this point outer space begins. In 1944 a German V2 rocket reached an altitude of 176 kilometers and became the first man made object to leave the Earth's atmosphere.

Answer: Sputnik 1

Sputnik 1 was a small spherical object equipped with four antennas that were transmitting radio pulses. It remained in orbit for three weeks and then the signals stopped because the battery ran out of power. R-7 was the rocket used to put Sputnik 1 in orbit.

Answer: Moon

The impact point was near the craters Aristides, Archimedes and Autolycus. During the journey the probe was sending information back to earth using three different transmitters. The verification of the success of the mission was given by Bernard Lovell of the Jodrell Bank Observatory.

Answer: Kazakhstan

Yuri Gagarin's historic flight was on 12th April 1961. He completed one orbit of the Earth in 89 minutes, flying at a maximum altitude of 300 kilometers. Gagarin was ejected from the capsule and parachuted in Kazakhstan. The name of the spacecraft was Vostok 1.

Answer: Alan Shepard

On 5th May 1961 a Mercury spacecraft launched on a Redstone rocket, took Shepard 116 miles high before returning back. The total flight time was fifteen and a half minutes.

Answer: Pete Conrad

Apollo 12 was launched from Kennedy space center on 14th November 1969. The other two members in the flight were Alan Bean and Richard Gordon. The command module, Yankee Clipper, was piloted by Richard Gordon. The lunar module, named Intrepid, carried Conrad and Bean to the surface of the moon near the spot were the spacecraft Surveyor 3 had landed in the Ocean of Storms, in April 1967.

Answer: Salyut 1

Salyut was the first in a series of space stations launched by the Soviet Union. It was launched on April 19 and It remained in orbit until November 1971. Three days later Soyuz 10 was launched carrying three crew that were supposed to man the station. The craft failed to dock with the space station and returned to earth. On June 7 of the same year Soyuz 11 managed to dock with the space station and the three member crew remained in the station for 22 days.

Answer: Voyager 1

Voyager 1 reached Jupiter in March 1979 and continued its journey towards Saturn which it reached in November 1980. After that it took path that was to take it out of our solar system. The spacecraft used the gravitational fields of the planets it passed by in order to increase its velocity and dart to the next destination. This technique is called slingshot.

Answer: Philae

Rosetta and the lander Philae were launched in 2nd March 2004 by the European Space Agency. The spacecraft flew around the Earth, Mars and two asteroids before reaching the comet 10 years after the launch. Philae's mission stopped short two days later because the battery powering it ran out.