Question 2 of 21

The first earthling in space -- sent up by the Soviet Union -- wasn't a human. Who was it?

... Laika (Barker), a female part-Samoyed rescue dog, proved in November 1957 that she could survive liftoff and weightlessness, but died during the mission.

Question 3 of 21

The Soviet Union also sent the first human into space -- and he became a national hero. Who was he?

... Yuri Gagarin made a 108-minute orbital flight in the Vostok 1 spacecraft April 12, 1961.

Question 4 of 21

The first American in space lifted off the following month. Who was he?

... Alan B. Shepard, Jr. went up 115 miles in the Freedom 7 Mercury spacecraft in May 1961.

Question 5 of 21

In an address to a joint session of Congress in 1961, President John F. Fennedy called for the U.S. to send a man to the moon and back by ________.

... Kennedy said, 'I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.'

Question 6 of 21

Who was the first person to undertake a spacewalk?

... Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov performed the first spacewalk outside Voshkod 2 in 1965.

Question 7 of 21

What is NASA's technical term for a spacewalk?

... NASA uses the abbreviation EVA (extra-vehicular activity) interchangeably with spacewalk.

Question 8 of 21

In 1984, astronaut Bruce McCandless made the first unteathered, free-floating spacewalk. What vehicle did he use?

... The Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) was used on three missions and assisted in retrieving two satellites before being retired in favor of tethered spacewalks.

Question 9 of 21

When Apollo 11's landing module reached the lunar surface, Neil Armstrong's first words were, 'Houston, Tranquility Base Here. ________.'

... The Eagle Has Landed is also the title of a heavy metal album, as well as a novel and a film set in World War II.

Question 10 of 21

How man humans have walked on the moon?

... Of the 12 men who have walked on the moon, the last was Eugene Cernan of Apollo 17 in 1972.

Question 11 of 21

Where were all the Apollo spacesuits made?

... ILC Dover, based in Delaware's Kent County, makes not just space suits but also blimps and containers for the pharmaceutical industry.

Question 12 of 21

What do engineers at Kennedy Space Center eat to celebrate a successful launch?

... The tradition of eating baked beans and cornbread began with the launch of the first space shuttle mission in 1981.

Question 13 of 21

What's special about astronaut ice cream?

... Astronaut ice cream is freeze-dried, and much more popular with space museum gift shops than astronauts themselves, who took it on only one mission.

Question 14 of 21

Which of these three breads is preferred in space?

... Tortillas don't produce crumbs that can gum up sophisticated equipment.

Question 15 of 21

Which fictional character has traveled with NASA?

... The 1994 Simpsons episode 'Deep Space Homer' included the voices of Apollo 11 lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin and singer-songwriter James Taylor.

Question 16 of 21

After the Soviet Union and the U.S., which country's space program was the first to put a human in space on its own?

... In 2003, China became just the third country to put a human into space independently.

Question 17 of 21

The U.S. has astronauts, Russia has cosmonauts, China has ________.

... Taikonaut, from 'taikong' (Chinese for space) and 'naut' (Greek for traveler), was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2007.

Question 18 of 21

Where do astronauts and cosmonauts prepare for a Russian Soyuz mission?

... The Cosmonaut Hotel's website proclaims, 'According to our visitors its become clear that the Hotel Cosmonaut is the best hotel not only in the city of Karaganda, but also in Kazakhstan.'

Question 19 of 21

Which NASA astronaut returned to space decades after retirement?

... U.S. Senator and former astronaut John Glenn flew on Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998 at age 77, allowing researchers to study the effects of spaceflight on seniors.

Question 20 of 21

Which business mogul is selling spaceship rides to the public?

... Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is selling short suborbital rides on SpaceShipTwo for $200,000.

Question 21 of 21

Which English pop star with a astronaut-themed hit made a wake-up call to the crew of the final space shuttle mission?

... Elton John, Paul McCartney, Beyonce Knowles and Michael Stipe of R.E.M. all recorded greetings to the crew of mission STS-135 and the International Space Station.

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