"Cosmos" - Then and Now Trivia Quiz

Answer: Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan (1934-1996) was the host of "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage", the original series which aired in 1980. He earned a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago and was a professor of astronomy at Cornell University. He became an advocate for scientific education in America, writing several award winning science books in addition to his award winning television series.

Answer: Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson was the host of the sequel series, "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey". Dr. Tyson is an astrophysicist and the director of the Hayden Planetarium, part of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He has followed in Carl Sagan's footsteps and has become an advocate for science and education in the United States.

He has also hosted a podcast and National Geographic television series named "StarTalk".

Answer: PBS

"Cosmos: A Personal Voyage" was originally broadcasted on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) channels in 1980. PBS was founded in 1969 and is known for its commercial free programming, with revenue generated in the form of viewer and corporate sponsorship. PBS is known for airing other educational television series, such as "Sesame Street" and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood".

Answer: FOX

"Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" was first aired by the Fox Broadcasting Company in 2014. The National Geographic Channel would air episodes as well, one day after they premiered on FOX. The program won several Emmy Awards as well as a Peabody Award for educational television series.

Answer: 13

Both "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage" and "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" produced thirteen episodes, all contained within a single season. A third series, "Cosmos: Possible Worlds" has been proposed for 2019. Barring any cancellations, it would again feature Neil deGrasse Tyson as the host and be aired on both FOX and the National Geographic Channel.

Answer: Seth MacFarlane

Seth MacFarlane is the man responsible for the creation of "Family Guy", a controversial, yet successful animated series that also aired on FOX. Seth MacFarlane has also created other animated series such as "American Dad!" and "The Cleveland Show". He became an instrumental part in bringing the "Cosmos" series back to television, providing much of the financial support.

Answer: Spaceship of The Imagination

Carl Sagan takes viewers on a trip around the cosmos in the Spaceship of The Imagination. The original looked sort of like the bridge of USS Enterprise from the original "Star Trek" series, but with only a captain's chair and viewscreen. The spaceship returns in "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey", in which it is given a modern makeover.

It was designed as an elongated oval with a spherical bridge.

Answer: Pale Blue Dot

Carl Sagan was known for his speech on the "Pale Blue Dot". Dr. Sagan had requested that NASA turn the Voyager 1 cameras back at the Earth after it had passed the orbit of Saturn. At that distance, the Earth was seen as just a tiny pixel. Carl Sagan also wrote a book entitled "Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space", which was listed on the "New York Times" Best Seller list.

Answer: wife

Ann Druyan married Carl Sagan in 1981. She had been a writer for "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage". She was also a writer and executive producer for "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey". Ann Druyan co-wrote many books with her husband and was also involved with the preparing the golden records that were mounted onto both Voyager 1 and 2.

Answer: December 31

The "Cosmic Calendar" was featured on both "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage" and "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey". The estimated age of the universe is 13.8 billion years. If we were to compare this to a single calendar year, each "day" would last nearly 38 million years. Based on current theories, humans began to inhabit the Earth after 10:00 pm on December 31.

In this time scale, the Earth was formed in early September and the dinosaurs would have died out only yesterday.