99 Nasa Space Missions Trivia Questions with Answers

99 public questions with answers, drawn from the well. How many can you answer?

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission mapped the Moon’s gravity field using two spacecraft flying in formation in 2012?

Answer

GRAIL

Hard Hard difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission first landed a spacecraft on an asteroid’s surface?

Answer

NEAR Shoemaker

Hard Hard difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission discovered evidence of liquid water beneath Europa’s icy surface?

Answer

Galileo

Hard Hard difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission was the first to photograph the far side of the Moon?

Answer

Lunar Orbiter 1

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission returned dust from Comet Wild 2 to Earth?

Answer

Stardust

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission was the first to collect and return samples of the solar wind?

Answer

Genesis

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission is studying the Trojan asteroids that share Jupiter’s orbit?

Answer

Lucy

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission was the first to demonstrate a planetary-defense asteroid impact?

Answer

DART

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission first mapped Venus’s surface in detail using radar?

Answer

Magellan

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission was designed to find Earth-size planets orbiting in the habitable zones of other stars?

Answer

Kepler

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission became the first spacecraft to orbit two different extraterrestrial bodies?

Answer

Dawn

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission was the last crewed mission to land on the Moon?

Answer

Apollo 17

Hard Hard difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission confirmed water ice near the Moon’s south pole by impacting the lunar surface in 2009?

Answer

LCROSS

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission became the first to land on an asteroid, touching down on Eros in 2001?

Answer

NEAR Shoemaker

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission deliberately created a crater on Comet Tempel 1 in 2005?

Answer

Deep Impact

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission carried John Glenn on the first American orbital spaceflight in 1962?

Answer

Mercury-Atlas 6

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission was the first U.S. space station, launched in 1973?

Answer

Skylab

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission became the first to visit all four giant planets?

Answer

Voyager 2

Hard Hard difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission was the first dedicated space telescope to study the cosmic microwave background?

Answer

COBE

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission was the first to use solar power while orbiting Jupiter, launching in 2011?

Answer

Juno

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission was the first U.S. spacecraft to orbit Mars, beginning operations in 1971?

Answer

Mariner 9

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission was the first to dock two spacecraft in orbit, in March 1966?

Answer

Gemini 8

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission carried the first American spacewalk in June 1965?

Answer

Gemini 4

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission was the first U.S. satellite to reach orbit, launching in 1958?

Answer

Explorer 1

Hard Hard difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission was the first to use an ion engine as its primary propulsion system?

Answer

Deep Space 1

Hard Hard difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission carried the first spacecraft to fly past Saturn’s moon Titan?

Answer

Pioneer 11

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission first used a lunar rover during a crewed Moon landing?

Answer

Apollo 15

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission became the first successful planetary flyby mission in 1962?

Answer

Mariner 2

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission achieved the first successful soft landing on Mars in 1976?

Answer

Viking 1

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission was the first integrated flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft in 2022?

Answer

Artemis I

Hard Hard difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

What was the NASA mission designation for the 1988 space shuttle flight that returned the fleet to service after Challenger?

Answer

STS-26

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission safely returned its crew after an oxygen tank exploded en route to the Moon in 1970?

Answer

Apollo 13

Hard Hard difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission carried the first American woman into space?

Answer

STS-7

Hard Hard difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission flew closer to the Sun than any previous spacecraft?

Answer

Parker Solar Probe

Hard Hard difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission became the first to orbit an asteroid?

Answer

NEAR Shoemaker

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission was the first to use a rover on Mars?

Answer

Mars Pathfinder

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission made the first successful flyby of Uranus in 1986?

Answer

Voyager 2

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017?

Answer

Cassini

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission first placed humans in orbit around the Moon?

Answer

Apollo 8

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

What was the name of NASA’s first spacecraft to reach interstellar space?

Answer

Voyager 1

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission carried the Ingenuity helicopter to Mars in 2021?

Answer

Mars 2020

Hard Hard difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission became the first spacecraft to enter orbit around Mercury in 2011?

Answer

MESSENGER

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission made the first close flyby of Pluto in 2015?

Answer

New Horizons

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission returned the first samples from an asteroid to Earth?

Answer

OSIRIS-REx

Intermediate Intermediate difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

What was the name of NASA’s first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter?

Answer

Galileo

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA space telescope launched in 1990 and studies the universe from low Earth orbit?

Answer

Hubble Space Telescope

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission carried the Curiosity rover to Mars in 2011?

Answer

Mars Science Laboratory

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

What was the name of NASA’s first reusable space shuttle, launched in 1981?

Answer

Space Shuttle Columbia

Easy Easy difficulty.
Nasa Space Missions

Which NASA mission first landed humans on the Moon in July 1969?

Answer

Apollo 11