Unit 3 Practice Questions Flashcards
In addition to the obvious improvement by New Horizons in resolving fine details on Pluto’s surface, what was the most surprising observation made by the spacecraft during its 2015 encounter?
The indications of active surface phenomena such as cryovolcanism, moving glaciers, etc.
When considering options for altering a potential asteroid on a collision course with Earth, what would be the most important piece of information?
How much time before impact.
In the early years of the Space Age, which satellite stands out for its ability to operate in Earth orbit for a prolonged period of time?
Alouette 1
The only scientist to have flown to the Moon was a:
Geologist
In the 1960s, what was not known about the Moon?
How it formed.
What spacecraft was the first to soft land on the Moon and transmit data?
Luna 9.
Arguably the most important result from the DART mission was
that a kinetic impact could alter the trajectory of a solar system object.
The abbreviation LEO means
Low Earth Orbit.
Considering the breadth of exploration that has occurred thus far in the Space Age, which of the following statements is false?
No human spacecraft has reached solar system escape velocity and travelled into interstellar space.
The space shuttle is known for many space-related activities. Which of the following did it not participant in?
Landing humans on the Moon.
The first successful flyby of Mars was performed by which spacecraft?
Mariner 4.
During the 1960s, which countries were the dominant nations in terms of their ability to launch payloads into space?
The United States and the Soviet Union.
How did Yuri Gagarin return to Earth?
By parachute after jumping out of his capsule
What was arguably the most important “spin off” resulting from the Space Race in the 1960s?
The significant reduction in mass/size of electronic components, including computers.
The only known space travellers to date who have died at an altitude higher than the Karman Line were the crew of
Soyuz 11.
The first human to step onto the Moon’s surface was
Neil Armstrong.
The first satellite in orbit carried
a radio transmitter.
Lunokhod was
a Soviet rover program on the Moon.
The first satellite to attain orbit was
Sputnik 1, Soviet Union.
When examining another world, many different spacecrafts can be involved. Which is the order of increasing mission difficulty?
Flyby, orbiter, lander, rover.
In 1959 the first human spacecraft impacted upon the Moon. Its name was
Luna 2.
The Black Brant rockets were the result of research at Canadian Armament Research and Development Establishment (CARDE). Their primary mission was to
probe the upper atmosphere.
While the space race moved along very quickly throughout the 1960’s, which major milestone in human spaceflight was not accomplished until the following decade?
building a space station visited by multiple crew
Who was the first woman to orbit the Earth?
Valentina Tereshkova.
What is not a part of the 7 minutes of terror?
Spacecraft mission launch.
One of the most fundamental changes in understanding about our solar system over the past 40 years is the existence of liquid water in unexpected locations. Which of the following solar system locations is believed to have more liquid water than our Earth?
Europa
One of the main goals of the ESA Hera mission is
examine carefully from close range the results of the NASA DART mission.
The Space Age is widely considered to have commenced on
October 4, 1957.
- The official name of the Space Shuttle program was
Space Transportation System.
- The first successful spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of Venus was
Venera 7.
Who was the first person to walk in space (perform an EVA)?
Alexei Leonov.
United State President John Kennedy committed his country to landing a man upon the Moon before the end of the (1960s) decade. After which NASA astronaut’s sub-orbital flight did this speech get made?
Alan Shepard.
The James Webb Space Telescope is a partnership between which 3 space agencies.
NASA/ESA/CSA.
- The first soil/rock sample return mission from an object in space was performed by
Luna 16.
- Explorer 1’s science payload identified
the Van Allen Radiation Belts.
