HuLC
Sputnik
Space History
Space Pop Culture
PARSEC
100

HuLC stands for this

The Human Lander Challenge 

100

Launched on October 4, 1957, this was the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth.

Sputnik 1

100

This mission landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969

Apollo 11

100

In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker grew up on this desert planet.

Tatooine

100

This acronym was almost used instead of PARSEC

LAPISS

200

This NASA center in Alabama manages the Human Lander Challenge.

Marshall Space Flight Center

200

This Soviet cosmonaut became the first human in space in 1961

Yuri Gagarin

200

This was the first human-made object to reach the surface of another planet.

Venera 3

200

This fictional spacecraft is commanded by Captain Kirk.

USS Enterprise 

200

This member of PARSEC is famous for standing on tables when they are not supposed to.

Cooper Nelson

300

Which of these is NOT one of the four 2026 HuLC technical subtopics: noise suppression, potable water dispensing, fluid transfer, or thermal protection?

Thermal protection

300

This NASA program was the United States' first human spaceflight program

Mercury 

300

This spacecraft became the first human-made object to enter interstellar space

Voyager 1

300

This 2014 Christopher Nolan film follows astronauts searching for a new habitable world through a wormhole.

Interstellar

300

This video game was popular amongst the 6 PARSEC members during meetings in 2023-2024

Lethal Company

400

In the inaugural 2024 Human Lander Challenge, teams were tasked with addressing this phenomenon, in which a lander's rocket exhaust interacts with the lunar surface and sends dust and debris flying.

Plume-surface interaction (PSI)

400

This American satellite, launched in 1958, was the first U.S. satellite to successfully orbit Earth.

Explorer 1

400

This Space Shuttle mission deployed the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990

STS-31

400

In WALL-E, this is the name of the massive spaceship carrying humans through space.

Axiom

400

This type of punctuation was hated by a graduated PARSEC member, to the point of heated arguments during proposal writing.

Semi Colon 

500

NASA describes the 2026 HuLC proposals as requiring what type of solutions: component-level, systems-level, or mission-level?

Systems-level solutions

500

Sputnik 1 transmitted its famous "beep-beep" signals on two radio frequencies. What did the signals also provide information about inside the satellite?

pressure and temperature

500

This astronaut famously commanded Apollo 13 after an oxygen tank exploded during the mission.

Jim Lovell 

500

In The Martian, Mark Watney survives on Mars largely by growing this crop he brought along as food.

Potatoes 

500

During the 2026 NASA HuLC Forum, Grant Bowers jokingly claimed he would use this many kilowatts to kill Thomas.

1.77kW

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