Astronomy Quiz

What event officially started the Space Race?

• End of World War II

• U.S. Launch of Explorer 1

• Soviet Union Launch of Sputnik 1

• V-2 Rocket (Long-ranged ballistic missile) Development

What was a similarity between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. during the Space Race?

• Both had the goal to land on the moon

• Space programs were widely collaborative between the government and companies

• Created spacecraft that was reusable

• Space agencies relied heavily on government funding

What was true about the United States during the Space Race, but not the Soviet Union?

• Wanted to prove the superiority of their technology and political/economic system

• Goal was to land on the moon

• Used technology for space exploration for military use later on (i.e. ballistic missile technology used for long-range missiles)

• Focused on making smaller spacecraft used for singular use

What is widely considered in most media and opinion to be the greatest accomplishment of the Space Race?

• Apollo 11: First human spacewalk on the Moon

• Sputnik 2: First living being (Laika the dog) to enter space from the Earth

• Sputnik 1: First manmade object in space

• Luna 2: First manmade object to land on the Moon

Which of these were not achieved by the Soviet Union during the Space Race?

• Sputnik 2: First living being in space

• Luna Program: Series of missions involving sending robotic spacecraft to the Moon

• Vostok 1: First human in space

• Mercury Program: Human spaceflight program involving an orbital flight

What was the name of the dog sent to space by the Soviet Union?

What was the name of the first long-range guided ballistic missile?

• V-2

• Ranger 7

• Soyuz

• Voskhod-2

What does "IGY" stand for (in regards to the Space Race)?

• International Geographic Yield

• Infrared Gravitational Yield

• International Geophysical Year

• Indigenous Geothermal Year

What was the name of the first human in space?

• Neil Armstrong

• Yuri Gagarin

• Valentina Tereshkova

• Alexei Leonov

What was the name of the Apollo mission that involved the first human orbit of the Moon?

• Apollo 11

• Apollo 13

• Apollo 5

• Apollo 8