GK Quiz on Space Exploration

1. What was the first artificial satellite launched into space by the Soviet Union in 1957?
a) Apollo 11
b) Hubble Space Telescope
c) Sputnik 1
d) Voyager 1

2. Which space agency successfully landed the Mars rover named Perseverance on the red planet in 2021?
a) NASA
b) ESA (European Space Agency)
c) ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization)
d) Roscosmos

3. Who was the first human to travel into space in 1961?
a) Yuri Gagarin
b) Neil Armstrong
c) John Glenn
d) Valentina Tereshkova

4. Which spacecraft is known for its mission to study and explore the gas giant Jupiter?
a) Voyager 2
b) Hubble Space Telescope
c) Juno
d) Curiosity

5. What is the name of the large space telescope launched in 1990, known for its stunning images of distant galaxies and nebulae?
a) Kepler Space Telescope
b) James Webb Space Telescope
c) Hubble Space Telescope
d) Spitzer Space Telescope

6. Which planet in our solar system is known for its prominent ring system?
a) Mars
b) Saturn
c) Neptune
d) Uranus

7. What was the first spacecraft to reach the moon and send back images of its surface in 1959?
a) Luna 1
b) Apollo 11
c) Ranger 4
d) Surveyor 1

8. The International Space Station (ISS) is a joint project involving multiple space agencies. Which of the following space agencies is not a part of the ISS program?
a) NASA
b) ESA (European Space Agency)
c) CNSA (China National Space Administration)
d) JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)

9. Who was the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth in 1962?
a) John Glenn
b) Alan Shepard
c) Gus Grissom
d) Neil Armstrong

10. What was the name of the first space shuttle launched by NASA in 1981?
a) Challenger
b) Endeavour
c) Columbia
d) Discovery

11. Which dwarf planet, formerly considered the ninth planet in our solar system, was reclassified in 2006?
a) Mercury
b) Pluto
c) Eris
d) Ceres

12. Who was the first woman to travel into space in 1963?
a) Sally Ride
b) Valentina Tereshkova
c) Mae Jemison
d) Christa McAuliffe

13. What is the name of the spacecraft that provided the first close-up images of Pluto in 2015?
a) Pioneer 10
b) New Horizons
c) Cassini
d) Messenger

14. Which spacecraft was responsible for the first successful landing on Mars in 1976?
a) Viking 1
b) Mars Pathfinder
c) Spirit
d) Opportunity

15. What is the name of the concept that suggests the universe is continually expanding since the Big Bang?
a) Big Crunch
b) Cosmic Inflation
c) Steady-State Theory
d) Cosmic Expansion

16. Which moon of Jupiter is known for its subsurface ocean and the potential for hosting extraterrestrial life?
a) Io
b) Ganymede
c) Europa
d) Callisto

17. The space agency ESA (European Space Agency) is headquartered in which European city?
a) Geneva
b) Berlin
c) Paris
d) Darmstadt

18. Which astronaut was the first to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969?
a) Neil Armstrong
b) Buzz Aldrin
c) Michael Collins
d) John Glenn

19. What is the name of the first privately-funded spacecraft to reach the International Space Station (ISS)?
a) Dragon
b) Falcon Heavy
c) Orion
d) Soyuz

20. The asteroid belt is located between which two planets in our solar system?
a) Earth and Mars
b) Mars and Jupiter
c) Jupiter and Saturn
d) Saturn and Uranus

21. What is the largest moon in the solar system, orbiting the largest planet?
a) Triton
b) Ganymede
c) Enceladus
d) Titan

22. Which space agency was responsible for the Chang’e-4 mission, the first to land a spacecraft on the far side of the moon?
a) NASA
b) CNSA (China National Space Administration)
c) ESA (European Space Agency)
d) Roscosmos

23. What is the name of the space telescope set to be launched in the future to study the universe’s earliest galaxies and stars?
a) Hubble 2
b) Kepler
c) James Webb Space Telescope
d) Spitzer

24. The concept of a “black hole” was first theorized by which physicist?
a) Isaac Newton
b) Albert Einstein
c) Stephen Hawking
d) John Michell

25. What was the first space station in orbit, launched by the Soviet Union in 1971?
a) Skylab
b) Mir
c) Salyut 1
d) Tiangong-2

26. Which planet has the largest number of natural satellites, with over 80 known moons?
a) Earth
b) Mars
c) Jupiter
d) Saturn

27. Which spacecraft made a historic flyby of Pluto in 2015 and provided valuable data about the dwarf planet?
a) Voyager 2
b) Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
c) New Horizons
d) Rosetta

28. The concept of a “white dwarf” refers to what astronomical phenomenon?
a) A young star
b) A highly reflective planet
c) A dense, dying star
d) A distant galaxy

29. What is the term for the point in space where the gravitational forces of two large celestial bodies balance the orbital motion of a smaller object, allowing it to remain in a stable position?
a) Lagrange Point
b) Event Horizon
c) Nebula
d) Asteroid Belt

30. Who was the first woman to walk in space, performing an extravehicular activity (EVA) in 1984?
a) Valentina Tereshkova
b) Sally Ride
c) Peggy Whitson
d) Mae Jemison

Also read,

GK Quiz on Earth

GK Quiz on NASA