Missions, Rockets & Stations

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

1.Which mission was the 1975 first international crewed docking?
- A. Pioneer 10
- B. Apollo-Soyuz
- C. OSIRIS-REx
- D. New Horizons
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Apollo-Soyuz
Did you know? American and Soviet crews met in orbit in July 1975.
2.Which mission was the first mission to return asteroid samples?
- A. Surveyor 1
- B. Hayabusa
- C. Luna 2
- D. Tianwen-1
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Hayabusa
Did you know? Hayabusa delivered tiny Itokawa grains to Earth in 2010.
3.Which mission is NASA's orbiter bound for Jupiter's icy moon?
- A. Europa Clipper
- B. Chang'e 4
- C. Juno
- D. Parker Solar Probe
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Europa Clipper
Did you know? Europa Clipper launched in October 2024.
4.Which mission was the first spacecraft to visit Mercury?
- A. Sojourner
- B. Mariner 10
- C. Hayabusa
- D. Philae
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Mariner 10
Did you know? Mariner 10 flew by Mercury three times in 1974-1975.
5.Which mission is the car-sized nuclear-powered rover that landed in 2012?
- A. Mars Express
- B. Opportunity
- C. Luna 9
- D. Curiosity
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Curiosity
Did you know? Curiosity landed with the daring "sky crane" maneuver.
6.Which launch site is the desert base that launches China's crews?
- A. Baikonur Cosmodrome
- B. Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
- C. the Guiana Space Centre
- D. Kennedy Space Center
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Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
Did you know? Jiuquan sent up Shenzhou 5 with China's first astronaut.
7.Which mission confirmed water ice under the soil near Mars's north pole?
- A. Chang'e 4
- B. InSight
- C. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
- D. Phoenix
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Phoenix
Did you know? Phoenix's arm dug icy soil on Mars in 2008.
8.Which rocket is NASA's current Moon rocket for Artemis flights?
- A. the multistage rocket
- B. the N1
- C. the Space Launch System
- D. the Saturn V
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the Space Launch System
Did you know? The SLS debuted with Artemis I in November 2022.
9.Which space technology propels a craft by catching sunlight?
- A. an ion engine
- B. aerobraking
- C. a gravity assist
- D. a solar sail
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a solar sail
Did you know? Japan's IKAROS flew on a solar sail in 2010.
10.Which spacecraft was the Soviet space shuttle that flew once, unpiloted?
- A. the Soyuz spacecraft
- B. Buran
- C. the space shuttle Columbia
- D. the Falcon 9
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Buran
Did you know? Buran's only flight took place in November 1988.
11.Which mission put China's first Mars orbiter and rover in place?
- A. Luna 3
- B. Tianwen-1
- C. InSight
- D. Artemis I
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Tianwen-1
Did you know? Tianwen-1 arrived at Mars in February 2021.
12.Which rocket was the rocket family that launched Sputnik?
- A. the Saturn V
- B. Ariane 5
- C. the gunpowder rocket
- D. the R-7
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the R-7
Did you know? R-7 derivatives still launch crews to orbit today.
13.Which mission found signs of water molecules on the Moon?
- A. Rosetta
- B. Galileo
- C. Chang'e 5
- D. Chandrayaan-1
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Chandrayaan-1
Did you know? Chandrayaan-1 orbited the Moon from 2008.
14.Which rocket was the giant Soviet Moon rocket that never succeeded?
- A. Ariane 5
- B. the multistage rocket
- C. the Long March rockets
- D. the N1
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the N1
Did you know? All four N1 test launches ended in failure before 1972.
15.Which mission was the first robotic mission to return lunar soil?
- A. Mariner 10
- B. Luna 16
- C. Sojourner
- D. Cassini-Huygens
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Luna 16
Did you know? Luna 16 drilled and returned Moon samples in 1970.
16.Which mission made India the first nation to reach Mars orbit on its first try?
- A. Perseverance
- B. Mangalyaan
- C. Cassini-Huygens
- D. Surveyor 1
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Mangalyaan
Did you know? Mangalyaan launched in 2013 and reached Mars in 2014.
17.Which mission used radar to map the cloud-covered surface of Venus?
- A. Surveyor 1
- B. Magellan
- C. Galileo
- D. the Voyager Golden Record
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Magellan
Did you know? Magellan's radar pierced Venus's permanent clouds.
18.Which mission has mapped the Moon in sharp detail since 2009?
- A. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
- B. Artemis I
- C. Parker Solar Probe
- D. Curiosity
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Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Did you know? LRO's photos even show the Apollo landing sites.
19.Which mission was the orbiter that studied Jupiter from 1995?
- A. Europa Clipper
- B. Mariner 4
- C. Apollo 8
- D. Galileo
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Galileo
Did you know? Galileo dropped an atmospheric probe into Jupiter in 1995.
20.Which mission delivered asteroid Bennu samples to Earth in 2023?
- A. New Horizons
- B. Luna 16
- C. OSIRIS-REx
- D. Rosetta
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OSIRIS-REx
Did you know? OSIRIS-REx stowed its Bennu sample capsule in the Utah desert.
21.Which mission measured marsquakes with a seismometer?
- A. Sojourner
- B. Crew Dragon
- C. the Voyager Golden Record
- D. InSight
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InSight
Did you know? InSight recorded its first marsquake in 2019.
22.Which mission is the NASA mission touring Jupiter's Trojan asteroids?
- A. Luna 9
- B. Parker Solar Probe
- C. Lucy
- D. Dawn
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Lucy
Did you know? Lucy launched in 2021 toward Jupiter's orbit.
23.Which mission is the joint mission now traveling to Mercury?
- A. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
- B. Ingenuity
- C. BepiColombo
- D. Europa Clipper
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BepiColombo
Did you know? BepiColombo is a partnership of ESA and JAXA.
24.Which mission was the first spacecraft to cross the asteroid belt and fly by Jupiter?
- A. Crew Dragon
- B. Apollo 8
- C. Luna 9
- D. Pioneer 10
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Pioneer 10
Did you know? Pioneer 10 carried a plaque picturing humans and Earth's location.

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