Image: NASA
Space has been much in the news lately, particularly with the death of astronaut Sally Ride. But how much do you really know about the “final (some would say “next) frontier?” Take this quiz and find out.
Space enthusiasts will find this rather basic, but don’t worry…I have a far more challenging quiz planned for later.
1. How far away is space, according to international standards?
A. 62 miles/100 km: the distance between New York City and Hamilton NJ
B. 620 miles/1000 km: the distance between Kansas City KS and Boulder CO
C. 6200 miles/10,000 km: the distance between Anchorage AK and Ghandidham, India
D. 62,000 miles/100,000 km: two and a half times the circumference of the Earth
2. Who was the first woman in space?
A. Sally Ride
B. Christa McCauliffe
C. Lori Garver
D. Valentina Tereshkova
3. How many U.S. Space Shuttles were built?
A. 5
B. 50
C. 150
D. 200
4. Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space. What year did he fly?
A. 1958
B. 1961
C. 1963
D. 1968
5. Put the following U.S. space projects in order:
A. Gemini, Mercury, Apollo
B. Gemini, Apollo, Mercury
C. Mercury, Gemini, Apollo
D. Apollo, Gemini, Mercury
6. What is currently the farthest man-made object from Earth?
A. Alpha capsule
B. Sputnik I
C. Voyager 1
D. Voyager 2
7. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon on July 20, 1969. But what was the name of the astronaut who stayed aboard the command module, Columbia?
A. Michael Collins
B. Fred Haise
C. Roger Chaffee
D. Gene Kranz
8. How many men have walked on the moon?
A. 7
B. 12
C. 13
D. 15
9. The International Space Station was built by NASA, and the Russian Federal Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Japanese Space Agency, and…
A. The Chinese Space Agency
B. The Brazilian Space Agency
C. The Malaysian Space Agency
D. The Canadian Space Agency
10. Who won the $10 million X-Prize, the prize to send a reusable launch vehicle to space twice within a two-week period in 2004?
A. X-Corp Aerospace
B. Scaled Composites
C. Bigelow Aerospace
D. Blue Origin