The Moon Rocks Quiz | Our Solar System

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Named for the Greek goddess of the Moon, what do you call the study of the lunar surface and its physical features?

Answer: Selenography

Selene's Roman counterpart has become more well-known as a referent to the Moon, as most things mentioned in conjunction with our satellite are called 'lunar', maybe just because lunar is catchier and easier to say than 'selenar'.

The mapping of the Moon has come to be known as selenography, but the general study of all things lunar is called selenology.

2. The darker spots (basaltic plains) visible on the Moon's surface were named as maria (seas), along with one oceanus (ocean) by early astronomers. How many named maria are there?

Answer: 22

Not only is there an ocean (oceanus) and seas (maria), but there are also a number of smaller features on the Moon that have watery names. There are also 20 named lakes (lacus), 11 bays (sinus), and three marshes (palus).

The smallest mare, Mare Spumans, has a diameter of 139 km, while the largest, Mare Frigoris, has a diameter of 1,596 km.

3. The first spacecraft to reach the surface of the Moon was the Soviet impactor, Luna 2. It 'landed' just east of the mare known as the Sea of Showers, translated from what Latin name?

Answer: Mare Imbrium

Mare Imbrium (Sea of Showers) is the second-largest of the maria with a diameter of 1,123 km. It is located at 32.8� N, 15.6� W.

Luna 2 crashed at coordinates 29.1� N, -0�E. The spacecraft was launched on
September 12, 1959, and hit the Moon's surface on September 14 at 21:02:24 UTC, making history.

4. Shortly after the Soviet success with Luna 2, NASA's Pioneer 4 succeeded in capturing this first-ever photo of the far side of the Moon.

Answer: False

It was actually the Soviet Union's next spacecraft, Luna 3, that accomplished this feat. It was launched on October 4, 1959, and took photographs of the far side of the Moon over a 40 minute period on October 7. Afterwards, two maria were named: Mare Moscoviense (Sea of Moscow) and Mare Desiderii (Sea of Desire). Later, Mare Desiderii was actually found to be a smaller mare (named Mare Ingenii (Sea of Cleverness)), and several dark craters. Subsequently, Mare Desiderii was no longer recognized as a mare.

Launched on March 3, 1959, Pioneer 4 was intended to do a lunar flyby and then go into a heliocentric orbit, but it did not actually get close enough to the Moon for its photoelectric sensor to activate. While it did not fully achieve its mission parameters, it did claim the distinction of being NASA's first probe to successfully escape Earth's gravity.

5. Ranger 7 was the first American spacecraft to successfully impact on the Moon, nearly five years after Luna 2. It struck the surface in Mare Cognitum, which translates as what?

Answer: Sea that has become known

Mare Cognitum (Sea that has become known) was not actually named as a mare prior to Ranger 7's mission in 1964. It received its name in conjunction with the planned mission. Mare Cognitum is located at 10.5� S, 22.3�W with a diameter of 376 km.

Ranger 7 was launched on July 28, 1964, and on July 31, at 13:25:48 UTC, it impacted at coordinates 10.6� S, 20.7� W.

6. The Soviets won another race to the Moon when they successfully managed to soft-land a controlled descent with their Luna 9 spacecraft. It touched down in Oceanus Procellarum, which translates as?

Answer: Ocean of Storms

Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms) has a diameter of 2,568 km, with central coordinates of 18.4� N, 57.4� W. In the space of a year-and-a-half, the United States and the Soviet Union traded accomplishments with soft-landing spacecraft in Oceanus Procellarum.

First was Luna 9, which was launched on January 31, 1966, achieving its Moon landing on January 3 at 22:55 UTC (coordinates 7.1� N, 64.4� W). A few months later, NASA's Surveyor 1, launched on May 30, made landfall June 2 at 06:17:36 UTC (coordinates 2.5� S, 43.3� W).

Luna 13 took its turn in December of 1966, then Surveyor 3 replied in April of 1967. The race for the first manned mission to the Moon was definitely on at this point.

7. Of course the ultimate race, putting the first man on the moon, was won by the Americans and the Apollo 11 mission. It landed in Mare Tranquillitatis, which translates as Sea of ... what?

Answer: Tranquility

Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility) is the fourth largest of the maria, measuring 873 km in diameter. Its coordinates center around 8.5� N, 31.4� E.

On July 16, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins blasted off, with Armstrong and Aldrin eventually making their way to the lunar surface on July 24 at 16:50:35 UTC. Their landing coordinates were 0.7� N, 23.5� E.

Shortly after stepping onto the surface of the Moon (at 02:56:15 UTC), Neil Armstrong made sure to collect a sample of Moon rocks, just in case they had to abort the mission prematurely. All went well, however, and in total, the crew of Apollo 11 brought home 21.55 kg of rock.

8. Six different Apollo landings brought back lunar rock samples between 1969 and 1972. The Soviets were able to procure their own rock samples with the unmanned lander Luna 16, which landed in the Sea of Fertility. By what Latin name is this mare known?

Answer: Mare Fecunditatis

Mare Fecunditatis (Sea of Fertility) is the Moon's third largest mare, weighing in with a diameter of 908 km. It is located around coordinates 7.8� S, 51.3� E.

Luna 16 was launched on September 12, 1970 and made a successful landing on September 20 at coordinates 0.7� S, 56.3� E. It collected a soil sample using an extendable arm with a drilling rig, then relaunched the next day. It successfully returned to Earth on September 24.

9. It wasn't until the 1990s that a nation other than the Soviet Union or the United States put a spacecraft on the Moon. Which country's robotic probe, named Hiten, achieved lunar orbit in 1990, then was deliberately crashed onto the surface in 1993?

Answer: Japan's

Hiten struck the Moon's surface at coordinates 34.3� S, 55.6� E, between the craters Stevinus and Furnerius. That does not happen to be located within one of the Moon's many maria, although the closest mare (located approx. 800 km to the northwest of the crash site) is Mare Nectaris.

10. The last soft landing of a spacecraft in the 20th century occurred in 1976 (USSR's Luna 24). It was not until 2013 that China achieved the next controlled descent and landing with Chang'e 3 (named for the Chinese goddess of the Moon). Pictured here is the lunar rover Yutu, named after Chang'e's mythological pet what?

Answer: Rabbit

The intended landing site for Chang'e 3 was Sinus Iridum (Bay of Rainbows), located at coordinates 44.1� N, 31.5� W (with a diameter of 236 km). It actually landed in Mare Indium (Sea of Showers) at coordinates 44.1� N, 19.5� W, missing the intended mark by approximately 260 km (due east).

With its more modern technology, one of the mission parameters of Chang'e 3 and its lunar rover Yutu was to make a direct measurement of the structure and depth of the lunar soil down to a depth of 30 m, something that had not been done by any previous Moon lander.

Source: Author reedy

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor rossian before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

The Moon Rocks Trivia Quiz

The Moon has been an object of fascination for eons, but it wasn't until the twentieth century that we could reach out and touch it. Come explore with me!

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