Race 2 Space Answers

Here are the answers to the Race 2 Space trivia quest.

1. What event started the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States?

The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite into space in 1957.

2. On what date was NASA founded?

October 1, 1958; Replaces NACA (National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics)

3. Who was the first human in space? When?

Cosmonaut Yuri A. Gargarin; He orbits the Earth once.

4. Name the Mercury Seven (astronauts in Mercury Program).

Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper, John H. Glenn Jr., Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Walter “Wally” H. Schirra Jr., Alan B. Shepard Jr., Donald “Deke” K. Slayton

5. Where did these men get recruited from?

President Eisenhower insisted that the first astronauts were military test pilots.

6. Which U.S. astronaut was the first in space? Which was the first to orbit the Earth? (U.S. astronaut)

Alan Sheppard was the first to reach space on his suborbital flight. John Glenn was the first to orbit the Earth (3 times).

7. Which U.S. President challenged the nation to send a man to the moon and return him safely? (At the time he issued this challenge, the U.S. had only 20 minutes of spaceflight experience!)

John F. Kennnedy

8. Who was the first woman in space? When?

Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova. She orbited the Earth 48 times on June 16, 1963.

9. What year did the Gemini Program start? (First manned mission)

Gemini 3 carrying Gus Grissom and John Young takes place on March 23, 1965. They made 3 orbits of the Earth.

10. Who made the first U.S. spacewalk? How long did it last?

Ed White performed the first U.S. EVA (extra-vehicular activity) on Gemini 4. It lasted 23 minutes.

11. What was the goal of the Apollo program?

Basically the goal was to land a man on the moon and return him safely. Of course greater goals of lunar exploration were also included.

12. During what mission did the first manned orbit of the moon occur? Who was on board?

The Apollo 8 crew was the first manned mission to orbit the moon launched on December 21, 1968. The crew members were Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr. and William A. Anders. They orbited the moon 10 times on their 6 day mission.

13. Who was the first man to set foot on the moon’s surface? When?

Neil Armstrong stepped of the LM (lunar module) Eagle and onto the moon on July 20, 1969. Buzz Aldrin was the second man out from the LM in the greatest EVA.

14. What famous words did he utter upon setting foot there?

“This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” – Neil Armstrong

15. What was the first space station in orbit?

The Soviet Union launched Saylut 1 into orbit in April 1971.

16. Why did NASA send its first “repair mission” into space? In other words what did they repair? (Hint: It was prior to the Shuttle era so Hubble is out)

The Skylab space work station was having major issues. The Skylab 2 crew performed these dangerous repairs and saved the station.

17. How big is NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB)?

The VAB covers 3.25 hectares (8 acres). It is 160 meters (525 ft) tall, 218 meters (716 ft) long and 158 meters (518 ft) wide. It encloses 3,664,883 cubic meters (129,428,000 cubic feet) of space.

18. What does STS stand for? What common name do we know it by?

Space Transport System – Space Shuttle

19. Who is the first astronaut to perform an untethered spacewalk or EVA (extra-vehicular activity)? What made this possible?

Bruce McCandless takes the first untethered space walk using MMU from the space shuttle Challenger (STS-41B) on February 3, 1984.

20. What did the Soviets launch into orbit in February 1986?

The core unit of the Mir space station was launched into space. Mir remained in orbit for 15 years until it was de-orbited in 2001.

21. Who is the oldest man to fly a mission to space? How old was he?

John Glenn (the first U.S. astronaut in orbit) was a member of STS-95 crew was the oldest man to fly in space at 77 years old.

22. When did construction (in orbit) of the International Space Station start?

On November 20, 1998 the first component (Zarya) of the International Space Station was launched into orbit on a Russian Rocket.

23. Who was the first space tourist? How much did he spend to get there?

Dennis Tito paid $20 million to be the first tourist in space. He rode aboard the Soyuz spacecraft TM-32 to the International Space Station.

24. What team won the X-Prize for launching a commercial spacecraft into sub-orbital flight twice? Name the spacecraft.

The Ansari X-Prize was awarded to Scaled Composites for their craft SpaceShipOne. This 10 million dollar prize was awarded in 2004.

25. When was the last repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope conducted?

The crew of the STS-125 mission paid Hubble its last visit in May 2009. It is expected to remain in service until 2014.

26. Would you like to be an astronaut?

This answer depends on you, but be assured you can learn from the words of one astronaut:

“Given a task to do. One that seems impossible. Given the desire to do it, humans can accomplish almost anything.” – Jim Lovell