Astronomers and Astronauts
Cosmic Phenomena
Space History
Our Solar System
Satellites and Spacecraft
100

Who was the first person to set foot on the Moon?

Neil Armstrong

100

Which galaxy is closest to our own Milky Way?

Andromeda

100

What was the first satellite successfully launched into orbit?

Sputnik 1

100

What is the closest planet to the Sun?

Mercury

100

What internationally collaborative initiative in Low Earth Orbit is scheduled to deorbit into the Pacific by 2031?

ISS

200

Which scientist proposed the heliocentric model, placing the Sun at the centre of the Solar System? a) Galileo Galilei 

b) Johannes Kepler 

c) Nicolaus Copernicus 

d) Isaac Newton

Nicolaus Copernicus

200

What is the closest star system to the Sun?

a) Barnard's Star
b) Alpha Centauri
c) Altair
d) Betelgeuse

Alpha Centauri

200

Which Apollo mission experienced a technical failure en route to the Moon and was unable to land, inspiring a movie of the same name starring Tom Hanks?

Apollo 13

200

Which planet has the hottest surface temperature?  

Venus

200

What is the name of the asteroid sample retrieval mission (that Canada contributed the laser altimeter to) that returned a sample to Earth last year?

OSIRIS-REx

300

Name a current Canadian astronaut

Jeremy Hansen
Josh Kutryk
Jenni Sidey-Gibbons
David St-Jacques

300

A pulsar is a:


a) Rapidly rotating neutron star
b) Type of supernova
c) Young, hot star
d) Black hole's event horizon

Rapidly rotating neutron star

300

The name of the first living creature sent into space, aboard Sputnik 2.

Laika

300

Name one of the Galilean moons of Jupiter (there are four - the largest ones!)

Ganymede
Europa
Callisto
Io

300

Which of the following inactive and/or deorbited spacecraft is not Canadian?

a) Alouette-1
b) ISIS
c) Envisat
d) RADARSAT-1

Envisat (it's European!)

400

Which pioneering astronomer catalogued over 800 000 stars and nebulae in the early 20th century?

a) Annie Jump Cannon
b) Maria Mitchell
c) Margaret Hamilton
d) Caroline Herschel

Annie Jump Cannon

400

Stars that are actively fusing helium in their cores, comprised by stars of classifications KGBFOAM, are:

a) White dwarfs
b) Main sequence stars
c) Made of cheese
d) Black holes

Main sequence stars

400

The first female commander of the International Space Station.

Peggy Whitson

400

Which planet in our Solar System has the shortest day, completing a full rotation in just under 10 hours?

Jupiter

400

Which spacecraft was intentionally steered into Saturn at the end of its mission to avoid potentially contaminating its moons?

Cassini

500

Famously derived an equation to calculate the chances of advanced alien civilizations in the universe.

Francis Drake

500

When three or more planets or moons in our solar system line up is called

Syzygy

500

What was the name of the first Soviet rover to explore the moon in 1970?

a) Lunokhod 1
b) Vostok
c) Luna 9
d) Zond 5

Lunokhod 1

500

What is the largest moon of Neptune known as?

Triton

500

Name an unlaunched spacecraft mission currently under development by the CSA

QEYSSAT
WildFireSat
Arctic Observation Mission
WaterSat

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