Aviation History
Spaceflight History
Planes
Rockets
Physics
100

On December 17th, 1903, these two bicycle mechanics from Dayton, OH, made the first controlled, powered flight of an aircraft, beating a team led by Alexander Graham Bell to the achievement by over four years.

Who are Wilbur and Orville Wright?

100

On the historic Apollo 11 mission, these two men emerged from their lander Eagle and became the first to set foot upon the surface of the Moon.

Who are Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin?

100

The Civil Air Patrol's corporate fleet are primarily composed of these aircraft.

What are Cessna 172/182s?

100

Up until 2023, this rocket was the United States most powerful vehicle ever launched, sending astronauts to the Moon during the Apollo missions.

What is the Saturn V?

100

Describe Isaac Newton's Third Law of Motion.

What is "every action has an equal and opposite reaction?"

200

Produced by Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works, this supersonic stealth aircraft was employed by the United States during the Cold War for high-altitude reconnaissance and often outflew missiles simply by merit of its speed.

What is the SR-71 Blackbird?

200

Although ridiculed by his peers, this man developed and flew the first successful liquid-propelled rocket engine in 1926.

Who was Dr. Robert H. Goddard?

200

Used heavily during the Gulf War and the War in Afghanistan, this close air support aircraft has a distinctive discharge sound, like a "brrtt."

What is the A-10 Warthog?

200

The two tall, white rockets on the Space Shuttle stack are called these.

What are Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs)?

200

This scientific principle describes how air changes pressure across the top and bottom of a wing's surface and generates lift.

What is Bernoulli's principle?

300

Although he is best known for his flight on Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong was also a civilian test pilot for NASA and flew this hypersonic rocket plane. 

What is the X-15?

300
Launched in December of 1968, this manned mission was the first to reach the Moon with its crew of three astronauts--Jim Lovell, Frank Borman, and Bill Anders.

What is Apollo 8?

300
These are the four strokes of a reciprocating engine.

What are Intake, Compression, Power, and Exhaust?

300

This Soviet Era moon rocket would have been the largest and most powerful rocket to launch to space--if it it had not failed on its four test launches.

What is the N1?

300
Thrust, Lift, Weight and Drag--these components dictate the motion of an aircraft in flight. 

What are the Four Forces of Flight?

400

In 1947 over the California desert, Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in this aircraft.

What is the Bell X-1 (Glamorous Glennis)?

400

This cosmonaut made the first spacewalk on March 18th, 1965 during the Voskhod 2 mission. His spacesuit expanded unexpectedly during the spacewalk, requiring great physical exertion to return to his spacecraft.

Who is Alexei Leonov?

400

If there is more fuel than air in an aircraft's engine, the mixture of the fuel is described as being this

What is a rich mixture?

400

Launched in 1973, this American space station was a modified S-IVB Saturn V upper stage--an incident during launch lead to the loss of its starboard solar array.

What is Skylab?

400

This position is the highest point in an orbit, when a satellite is the furthest away from the Earth.

What is apogee?

500

In Long Beach Harbor in 1947, this aerospace engineer, motion picture director, and business magnate held the controls to the H-4 Hercules Spruce Goose for its first and only test flight.

Who was Howard Hughes?

500

Flying her solo mission in 1963, this person became the first woman in space. 

Who is Valentina Tereshkova?

500

A component of the California Air National Guard's 155th Fighter Wing, this aircraft performed a flyover of Camp Roberts for the 2025 California Wing Encampment.

What is the F-15 Eagle?

500

Capable of launching like a rocket and returning to Earth like a plane, this Soviet spacecraft paralleled the American Space Shuttle in many ways.

What is the Buran spacecraft?

500

In order to stay in circular orbit around the Earth, an object must be moving at this speed.

What is 17,500 mph? (plus or minus 1,000 mph)