Astronauts & Pioneers

36 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.Which astronaut became the first American woman in space in 1983?
- A. Helen Sharman
- B. Sally Ride
- C. Alexei Leonov
- D. Rakesh Sharma
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Sally Ride
Did you know? Ride flew aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
2.Which rocket pioneer launched the first liquid-fuel rocket in 1926?
- A. Wernher von Braun
- B. Robert Goddard
- C. Sergei Korolev
- D. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
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Robert Goddard
Did you know? Goddard's 1926 flight lasted just seconds but started an era.
3.What does the word taikonaut refer to?
- A. A space tourist
- B. A Chinese astronaut
- C. An Indian astronaut
- D. A Japanese astronaut
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A Chinese astronaut
Did you know? "Taikonaut" comes from taikong, Chinese for outer space.
4.Which astronaut made the first spacewalk in 1965?
- A. Rakesh Sharma
- B. Yang Liwei
- C. Laika
- D. Alexei Leonov
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Alexei Leonov
Did you know? Leonov floated outside Voskhod 2 for about 12 minutes.
5.Which Japanese name for the Pleiades also brands a carmaker?
- A. Subaru
- B. Nissan
- C. Toyota
- D. Honda
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Subaru
Did you know? Subaru's logo stars sketch the Pleiades cluster.
6.Which astronaut was the first animal to orbit Earth?
- A. a chimpanzee
- B. a Beagle
- C. a Siamese cat
- D. Laika
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Laika
Did you know? Laika flew aboard Sputnik 2 in November 1957.
7.Which agency runs India's space program?
- A. NASA
- B. the European Space Agency
- C. the China National Space Administration
- D. the Indian Space Research Organisation
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the Indian Space Research Organisation
Did you know? ISRO launched Chandrayaan-1 and Mangalyaan.
8.Which astronaut orbited the Moon alone while his crewmates landed?
- A. Guion Bluford
- B. Michael Collins
- C. Alan Shepard
- D. Yang Liwei
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Michael Collins
Did you know? Collins stayed in the command module during Apollo 11.
9.Which agency is Europe's joint space organization?
- A. JAXA
- B. the European Union
- C. the European Space Agency
- D. Roscosmos
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the European Space Agency
Did you know? ESA pools the space programs of over 20 member states.
10.Which astronaut joined Neil Armstrong on the Moon's surface?
- A. Sally Ride
- B. Buzz Aldrin
- C. Yang Liwei
- D. Laika
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Buzz Aldrin
Did you know? Aldrin stepped onto the Moon about 19 minutes after Armstrong.
11.The word astronaut literally means what?
- A. Space traveler
- B. Star sailor
- C. Moon walker
- D. Sky runner
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Star sailor
Did you know? Astronaut joins Greek roots for star and sailor.
12.Which astronaut became the first American in space in 1961?
- A. Helen Sharman
- B. Alan Shepard
- C. Sally Ride
- D. Valeri Polyakov
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Alan Shepard
Did you know? Shepard's suborbital flight lasted about 15 minutes.
13.What does the first A in NASA stand for?
- A. Astronautics
- B. Aeronautics and Administration
- C. Aeronautics
- D. Aerospace
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Aeronautics
Did you know? NASA's full name begins "National Aeronautics and Space Administration."
14.Which astronaut was the first American to orbit Earth?
- A. Valeri Polyakov
- B. John Glenn
- C. Dennis Tito
- D. Rakesh Sharma
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John Glenn
Did you know? Glenn flew three orbits in February 1962.
15.Which 11th-century embroidery depicts Halley's Comet?
- A. the Nebra sky disk
- B. the Bayeux Tapestry
- C. the Book of Kells
- D. the Dunhuang chart
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the Bayeux Tapestry
Did you know? The tapestry shows the comet over the 1066 conquest of England.
16.Which astronaut became China's first astronaut in space in 2003?
- A. Rakesh Sharma
- B. Yang Liwei
- C. Dennis Tito
- D. Sally Ride
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Yang Liwei
Did you know? Yang flew aboard Shenzhou 5 in October 2003.
17.Which astronaut became the first Indian astronaut in 1984?
- A. Helen Sharman
- B. Mae Jemison
- C. Sally Ride
- D. Rakesh Sharma
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Rakesh Sharma
Did you know? Sharma flew to the Salyut 7 station aboard a Soyuz.
18.Which rocket pioneer was the anonymous "Chief Designer" of the Soviet program?
- A. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
- B. Robert Goddard
- C. Sergei Korolev
- D. Wernher von Braun
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Sergei Korolev
Did you know? Korolev led Sputnik, Luna and Vostok development.
19.Which Māori new year begins with the Pleiades' dawn rising?
- A. Mid-Autumn Festival
- B. Hanukkah
- C. Nowruz
- D. Matariki
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Matariki
Did you know? New Zealand now marks Matariki as a public holiday.
20.Which astronaut became the first Black woman in space in 1992?
- A. Sally Ride
- B. Mae Jemison
- C. Buzz Aldrin
- D. Laika
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Mae Jemison
Did you know? Jemison flew aboard the space shuttle Endeavour.
21.The word cosmonaut literally means what?
- A. Comet rider
- B. Cosmos sailor
- C. Sun chaser
- D. Star sailor
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Cosmos sailor
Did you know? Russian crews carry the cosmos in their job title.
22.Which astronaut became the first paying space tourist in 2001?
- A. Alexei Leonov
- B. Dennis Tito
- C. John Glenn
- D. Laika
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Dennis Tito
Did you know? Tito flew to the space station aboard a Soyuz.
23.Which 7th-century Korean tower is the oldest surviving observatory?
- A. Cheomseongdae
- B. El Caracol
- C. Stonehenge
- D. the Samarkand observatory
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Cheomseongdae
Did you know? Cheomseongdae still stands in Gyeongju, Korea.
24.Which Maya building at Chichen Itza is nicknamed "the observatory"?
- A. the Sacred Cenote
- B. El Caracol
- C. the Temple of Kukulcan
- D. the Great Ballcourt
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El Caracol
Did you know? El Caracol's windows line up with key sky positions.
25.Which Maya book holds detailed tables tracking Venus?
- A. the Popol Vuh
- B. the Madrid Codex
- C. the Chilam Balam
- D. the Dresden Codex
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the Dresden Codex
Did you know? Maya astronomers timed Venus's cycles to the day.
26.Which astronaut became the first British astronaut in 1991?
- A. Alexei Leonov
- B. Helen Sharman
- C. Guion Bluford
- D. Dennis Tito
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Helen Sharman
Did you know? Sharman visited the Mir space station.
27.Which astronomer coined the name "Big Bang" on 1949 radio?
- A. the astrolabe
- B. the gunpowder rocket
- C. a circumpolar star
- D. Fred Hoyle
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Fred Hoyle
Did you know? Hoyle backed a steady-state cosmos, and the tag stuck.
28.Which engineer led the team writing Apollo's onboard flight software?
- A. Ada Lovelace
- B. Grace Hopper
- C. Margaret Hamilton
- D. Hedy Lamarr
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Margaret Hamilton
Did you know? Hamilton's team coined the term "software engineering."
29.Which rocket pioneer led the team that built the Saturn V?
- A. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
- B. Robert Goddard
- C. Wernher von Braun
- D. Sergei Korolev
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Wernher von Braun
Did you know? Von Braun's team launched the first American satellite in 1958.
30.Which classic Ptolemy text summed up ancient astronomy?
- A. the Canon
- B. the Elements
- C. the Almagest
- D. the Discourses
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the Almagest
Did you know? The Almagest guided astronomers for over a thousand years.
31.Which astronaut set the record for the longest single spaceflight?
- A. Laika
- B. Rakesh Sharma
- C. Guion Bluford
- D. Valeri Polyakov
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Valeri Polyakov
Did you know? Polyakov spent about 437 days aboard Mir.
32.Which astronomer built the great Samarkand observatory in the 1420s?
- A. Ulugh Beg
- B. Leo
- C. sunspots
- D. the Carrington Event
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Ulugh Beg
Did you know? Ulugh Beg's star catalog set precision records for its time.
33.Which rocket pioneer worked out rocket flight math decades before spaceflight?
- A. Wernher von Braun
- B. Robert Goddard
- C. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
- D. Sergei Korolev
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Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
Did you know? Tsiolkovsky derived the basic equation of rocket motion.
34.Which 1543 book laid out Copernicus's heliocentric system?
- A. the Principia
- B. the Almagest
- C. the Dialogue
- D. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
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De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
Did you know? De revolutionibus appeared as Copernicus lay dying.
35.Which astronaut became the first Black American astronaut in space?
- A. Laika
- B. Guion Bluford
- C. Dennis Tito
- D. Sally Ride
Show answer
Guion Bluford
Did you know? Bluford flew on the shuttle in August 1983.
36.Which astronomer was America's first professional woman astronomer?
- A. Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto
- B. Felix Baumgartner
- C. the Dresden Codex
- D. Maria Mitchell
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Maria Mitchell
Did you know? Mitchell spotted a comet from her rooftop in 1847.

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