37 Space Trivia Questions and Answers
Space trivia about the planets and moons of the solar system, the stars and constellations, and the people and machines that have left the Earth. The questions range from primary-school easy to ones that need some astronomy. Answers are printed with each question.
There are 37 questions on this page. They are free to use for quiz nights, classrooms and pub quizzes, and each one links to its own page.
Related lists: Chemistry trivia questions, Human Body trivia questions, Mythology trivia questions, Ocean trivia questions.
1.In April and May, 1961, the first two astronauts were launched into space; one Russian and one American. Can you name them?
Answer: YURI GAGARIN / ALAN SHEPARD, JR.
Open this question2.They are characters from Shakespearean plays The Tempest and A Midsummer Night's Dream : Ariel, Miranda, and Phoebe, but scientists have used their names for another purpose. What is it?
Answer: MOONS OF URANUS AND SATURN
Open this question3.How many planets in our solar system have no moon?
Answer: 2 - MERCURY / VENUS
Open this question4.If the astronauts took with them the moon a grandfather clock, for what scientific reason would it not keep proper earth time?
Answer: IT REQUIRES EARTH'S GRAVITY FOR THE PENDULUM TO KEEP PROPER EARTH TIME
Open this question5.Planets: a. Which planet in our solar system has the shortest day - making one rotation about its axis every 10 hours or so? Is it Mercury, Jupiter, or Pluto? b. How many planets have no moons? c. Which planet has the tallest mountain - Earth, Mars, or Uranus?
Answer: a. JUPITER b. 2 - Mercury and Venus c. MARS
Open this question6.What is the name of the figure formed by the seven brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Minor, one of which is Polaris, the North Star?
Answer: LITTLE DIPPER
Open this question7.June 29, 1995 - The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis successfully docked with the Russian space station called what?
Answer: MIR
Open this question8.In the film Apollo 13, Tom Hanks played the role of which astronaut?
Answer: JIM LOVELL
Open this question9.In March, 1998, NASA announced that an unmanned lunar spacecraft had discovered up to 6 billion tons of ... what? ... on the moon?
Answer: ICE
Open this question10.Where is the Sea of Tranquility located?
Answer: ON THE MOON
Open this question11.Shaped like a flat disk, it's about 100,000 light years in diameter, and about 10,000 light years thick. What is it?
Answer: MILKY WAY
Open this question12.Asteroids are small irregularly shaped bodies, sometimes called minor planets, which orbit the sun, and are most frequently found between which two planets?
Answer: MARS AND JUPITER
Open this question13.The length of one earth day is approximately 24 hours (actually 23'56). Which planet in our solar system has the longest day, equivalent to about 243 earth days?
Answer: VENUS
Open this question14.What space shuttle exploded on take off, on January 28, 1986, and which two female astronauts died on board?
Answer: CHALLENGER / CHRISTA McAULIFFE / JUDITH RESNICK
Open this question15.Which planet was named after the Roman god of war?
Answer: MARS because of its red color
Open this question16.In the late 1970s, the Viking spacecraft sent back to Earth photographs and reports about the surface of which planet?
Answer: MARS
Open this question17.Which constellation in the southern sky has the same name as an organization containing many intelligent people?
Answer: MENSA
Open this question18.What name is given to the darkest part of a shadow cast by the earth or moon during an eclipse?
Answer: UMBRA
Open this question19.How many moons does Mars have?
Answer: Two
Open this question20.What celestial event occurs when the Moon passes directly between the Earth and the Sun?
Answer: Solar eclipse
Open this question21.What type of galaxy is the Milky Way classified as?
Answer: Barred spiral galaxy
Open this question22.What are the dark, flat areas on the Moon's surface called, formed by ancient volcanic eruptions?
Answer: Maria (lunar seas)
Open this question23.Which planet is known as the Red Planet?
Answer: Mars
Open this question24.What is the largest planet in our solar system?
Answer: Jupiter
Open this question25.In 1962, European countries joined forces to establish an international astronomical project. They set up a space observatory, with some of the most powerful telescopes in the world, at La Silla, in which southern country?
Answer: CHILE
Open this question26.How many high tides do seashores have in a week?
Answer: 14 / two per day caused by the gravitational attraction of the Moon and Sun and the opposite force of centrifugal motion.
Open this question27.What is the largest moon of Saturn?
Answer: Titan
Open this question28.Which planet is the hottest in the Solar System?
Answer: Venus
Open this question29.Which Apollo mission first landed humans on the Moon, in July 1969?
Answer: Apollo 11
Open this question30.Which Apollo 11 astronaut remained in lunar orbit aboard the command module Columbia while Armstrong and Aldrin landed?
Answer: Michael Collins
Open this question31.What was the name of the Apollo 11 lunar module?
Answer: Eagle
Open this question32.In what year was the Hubble Space Telescope launched?
Answer: 1990
Open this question33.In what year did the International Astronomical Union redefine "planet" in a way that excluded Pluto?
Answer: 2006
Open this question34.Which astronomer discovered Pluto in 1930?
Answer: Clyde Tombaugh
Open this question35.On which planet is the Great Red Spot, a giant storm?
Answer: Jupiter
Open this question36.Which planet was first observed by William Herschel in 1781?
Answer: Uranus
Open this question37.Which comet appears in Earth's sky roughly every 74 to 79 years?
Answer: Halley's Comet
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