1.6 "Terra Nova" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nine years

The Human Space Agency had already managed to colonize parts of our own solar system before the discovery of a new habitable planet. The effort to colonize Terra Nova became known as 'The Great Experiment.'

The new colony proved to be very successful, and the Space Agency wanted to send another ship of colonists to join the first. This idea was not well-received by the existing colonists, who argued vehemently against the plan. Soon after, all contact with the colony was lost.

Answer: An asteroid struck the surface nearby.

From orbit, Sub-Commander T'Pol registers the presence of low levels of radiation on the surface. She is also able to determine that the radiation would have been at lethal levels 70 years ago, when contact with the colony was lost. Further investigation leads to the discovery of a crater approximately 500 kilometres away. The beresium core of the asteroid caused a poison fallout that devastated the colony.

Sub-Commander T'Pol was played by Jolene Blalock.

Answer: Lieutenant Reed

The humanoid that Lieutenant Reed spots seems very primitive, covered in mud and ragtag clothing. Reed makes chase, but is unable to catch the runner before he escapes into a cave. He wisely waits for the others of the away team to arrive before continuing the pursuit.

Lieutenant Malcolm Reed was played by Dominic Keating.

Answer: True

Reed and Archer are extremely surprised when they encounter armed resistance from the cave dwellers, since they seem so primitive. They are also somewhat surprised to discover that the cave dwellers are, in fact, human.

The two officers hold their own at first, but just before they escape the tunnels, Reed is shot in the leg. Archer is about to go back for him, but Reed gets dragged deeper into the tunnels, and Archer decides that it would be better to evade capture himself to effect an organized rescue.

Captain Archer was played by Scott Bakula.

Answer: The underside

The people living in the caves are the descendants of the original Novan colonists. When the asteroid hit, most of the colonists died in the fallout, but some of the children survived and moved into the caves. The children grew up believing that the people of Earth had come and attacked the colony, and are not even aware that they, themselves, are also human.

Many of the terms that they use are childish in nature, referring to above ground as the 'overside' and their cave system as the 'underside', while their ancestors are called 'go-befores'.

Answer: Lung cancer

Captain Archer brought Dr. Phlox back with him to the 'underside' to treat Lieutenant Reed and to try to come to some kind of understanding with the Novans. When Dr. Phlox realizes that Nadet is sick, an opportunity arises to convince the Novans that humans are not bad.

Nadet and her suspicious son Jamin return to the Enterprise, and Dr. Phlox heals Nadet of her cancer, but another problem is discovered in the process: the Novans are being poisoned by their own water supply, which was affected over time from the ateroid fallout.

Having access to the Terra Nova database helps, as they are able to find a photo of a family that includes a young girl named Bernadette Fuller... who has grown to become the elder Nadet. It is proof (to Nadet and Jamin) that the Novans are, in fact, humans.

Dr. Phlox was portrayed by John Billingsley, while the two Novans were played by Mary Carver (Nadet) and Erick Avari (Jarmin).

Answer: A sinkhole opens up under the shuttlepod, dropping it eight metres into the earth.

Right after the shuttlepod lands, before they can open the door, the ground shakes and a large sinkhole swallows the little ship whole. They are able to get the hatch opened, and shortly realize that the collapse has affected other Novans as well. Captain Archer and Jamin must work together to save a Novan that has fallen into a chasm along with a tree that has pinned him down, before rising water can drown the unfortunate man.

Answer: False

Captain Archer finds himself in somewhat of a dilemma in regards to the Novans. They have survived for 70 years in the 'underside', but the poison in the water stream is slowly killing everyone. Can he forcibly remove the population, for their own safety? Can he bring them back to Earth, to a world and a way of life that would be totally foreign to them?

In the end, he settles on a third option: to relocate the Novans to another part of the planet that has similar geological formations, but was not affected by the asteroid strike. They would be able to maintain their way of life, and maybe even begin to live on the 'overside'.

Answer: Ensign Mayweather

Ensign Travis Mayweather is referred to as a 'boomer' many times in the series. A 'boomer' is someone who has lived their entire lives off planet, traveling on starships, and sometimes even having been born on one. Travis grew up on stories of Terra Nova, and from the beginning of the episode, is the most excited about the prospect of solving the 70-year-old mystery.

Ensign Mayweather was played by Anthony Montgomery.

Answer: Levar Burton

Levar Burton played Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge in "Star Trek: TNG"; the Chief Engineer of the Enterprise. He made his directorial debut with the "TNG" sixth season episode "Second Chances" (1993). He did only one other episode for "TNG" (in season seven), but went on to direct ten episodes of "DS9", eight "Voyager" episodes, and ten "Enterprise" episodes, of which "Terra Nova" was his first.