Space Trivia

After the sky crane jetpack lowered NASA's Mars Curiosity rover to the surface of Mars on Aug. 5, 2012, what did the jetpack do next?

A) Returned to Earth
B) Crash-landed on Mars
C) Landed using airbags
D) Went into orbit

June 27

The WL 20 group of stars is located in the Rho Ophiuchi star-forming region, imaged here by NASA’s now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope. Located near the constellations Scorpius and Ophiuchus, the region is about 407 light-years from Earth.

Credit: NASA-JPL/Caltech

Scientists recently got a big surprise when NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope revealed that the long-studied star WL 20, located in the Scorpius and Ophiuchus constellations, was actually:

A) Twins (two stars)
B) A supernova
C) A planet
D) A black hole

June 7, 2024

Artist's concept of NASA's Cassini spacecraft from December, 2002.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Cassini-Huygens was unique in that it was the first mission to do what?

A) Orbit Saturn
B) Land a probe in the outer solar system
C) Sample an extraterrestrial ocean
D) All of the above

June 1, 2024

JPL was founded in 1936 on which cultural holiday?

A) Valentine’s Day
B) St. Patrick’s Day
C) Cinco de Mayo
D) Halloween

May 25, 2024

An artist's rendering of NASA's twin Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft flying over Mars with Earth in the distance.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s first interplanetary CubeSats – a pair of briefcase-size spacecraft called Mars Cube One, or MarCO, which flew by Mars in 2018 – were named after which two Pixar characters?

A) Sully and Mike
B) WALL-E and EVE
C) Buzz Lightyear and Woody
D) Dory and Nemo

May 1, 2024

Artist's rendering of NASA's Stardust spacecraft. The spacecraft was launched on February 7, 1999, from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida, aboard a Delta II rocket.

Credit: NASA/JPL

In 2006, the Stardust spacecraft was the first to do what?

A) Return cometary and interstellar material
B) Send an impactor to slam into a comet
C) Make the closest flyby ever to a comet
D) Peer beneath the surface of a comet

April 26

This artist concept shows NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft, celebrating 40 years of continual operation in August and September 2017.

Artist concept of NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Voyager 1 mission is the first to do all of the following, except:

A) Cross the heliosphere, the boundary where the influences outside our solar system are stronger than those from our Sun
B) Venture into interstellar space
C) Visit Pluto
D) Image active volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io

April 4

NASA's DSS-53 antenna went online in February 2022 at the Deep Space Network's Madrid facility. The addition is part of the agency's effort to expand the capacity of the network.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Deep Space Network consists of three antenna facilities around the world. Which of these is NOT a DSN location?

A) Goldstone, United States
B) Madrid, Spain
C) Cape Town, South Africa
D) Canberra, Australia

March 29

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

In addition to 2.6 million names, a poem written by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, and an etching of the Drake Equation, a commemorative plate mounted on Europa Clipper will also carry what?

A) Recordings of the word "water" in 103 languages
B) Artwork of radio frequencies for interstellar communication
C) A portrait of Ron Greeley, a founder of planetary science
D) All of the above

March 22

Large boulders are visible in this enlargement of pictures taken by NASA's Mars Pathfinder lander camera on July 4, 1997. The landing site is in the dry flood channel named Ares Valles.

Credit: NASA/JPL

Which Mars mission played a crucial role in the storyline of the 2015 motion picture "The Martian"?

A) Mars Pathfinder
B) Mars Exploration Rovers
C) InSight
D) Mars Science Laboratory

March 8

This image revealing the north polar region of the Jovian moon Io was taken on October 15 by NASA’s Juno. Three of the mountain peaks visible in the upper part of image, near the day-night dividing line, were observed here for the first time by the spacecraft’s JunoCam.

Credit: Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS, Image processing by Ted Stryk

Which is the most volcanic world in our solar system?

A) Earth
B) Venus
C) Io
D) Europa

February 23

NASA's Mariner 2 was the world's first successful interplanetary spacecraft. Launched August 27, 1962, on an Atlas-Agena rocket, Mariner 2 passed within about 34,000 kilometers (21,000 miles) of Venus.

Credit: NASA/JPL

In 1962, Mariner 2 became the first spacecraft to successfully encounter another planet. What planet was this?

A) Mercury
B) Mars
C) Venus
D) Jupiter

February 16

This sealed titanium sample tube contains Perseverance’s first cored sample of Mars rock. The rover’s Sampling and Caching System Camera (known as CacheCam) captured this image.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

As of February 16, 2024, how many Mars rock samples has NASA’s Perseverance rover collected?

A) 8
B) 13
C) 18
D) 23

February 8

The Magellan spacecraft is depicted in orbit around Venus in this artist's concept.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

On Oct. 12, 1994, Magellan became the first spacecraft to do what?

A) Intentionally crash into a planet
B) Orbit Venus 200 times
C) Map Venus' infrared emissions
D) Capture images of volcanoes on another planet

January 26

A computer screen in the mission support area shows Taters the cat in a still from the first high-definition streaming video to be sent via laser from deep space, as well as the incoming data stream delivering the frames from the video. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Full Image Details

NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment recently beamed an ultra-high definition streaming video on Dec. 11 from a record-setting 19 million miles away. The star of the video was:

A) A jar of lucky JPL peanuts
B) A chihuahua named Mr. Dee Sock
C) A dancing JPL deer
D) A cat named Taters

2023

December 29

This image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, one of those acquired in the survey conducted by the Cassini imaging science team of the geyser basin at the south pole of Enceladus, was taken as Cassini was looking across the moon's south pole.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Which molecule, considered a key ingredient for life, was recently discovered at Saturn’s moon Enceladus?

A) Hydrogen cyanide
B) Potassium cyanide
C) Nitric acid
D) Cyanic acid

December 22

EMIT, a NASA mission launched to the International Space Station in 2022, mapped hematite, goethite, and kaolinite in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The three minerals are among 10 key substances the mission studied that are thought to influence climate change.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s EMIT mission, flying aboard the International Space Station, recently produced the first global maps in arid regions of what?

A) Pollen concentrations
B) Underground water supplies
C) Surface minerals
D) Camel populations

December 8

NASA's Psyche spacecraft is shown in a clean room on Dec. 8, 2022, at Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment recently beamed data via laser from far beyond the Moon for the first time. About how far did the data travel?

A) 2 million miles
B) 5 million miles
C) 8 million miles
D) 10 million miles

December 1

ESA's Euclid spacecraft, shown in this artist's impression, is scheduled to launch in 2020 with participation from NASA.

The Euclid spacecraft, shown in this artist's impression, is scheduled is scheduled to begin regular science operations in early 2024.

Credit: ESA/C. Carreau

What is the primary mission of Euclid, the new spaceborne observatory, led by ESA (European Space Agency) with NASA contributions?

A) Find new exoplanets
B) Investigate dark matter
C) Investigate dark energy
D) Both B and C

November 17

This enhanced image of the Jovian moon Ganymede was obtained by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft during the mission's June 7, 2021, flyby of the icy moon on Juno's 34th pass close to Jupiter.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kalleheikki Kannisto © CC BY

What did NASA’s Juno mission recently observe on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede?

A) Fresh craters
B) Mineral salts and organic compounds
C) Flowing water
D) Erupting geysers

November 10

Swathed in its thick blanket of atmosphere, frigid Titan approaches the brilliant limb of Saturn, as shown in this image captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Besides Earth, which is the only world in our solar system known to have liquid lakes and seas on the surface?

A) Titan
B) Callisto
C) Enceladus
D) Europa

November 2

NASA’s Europa Clipper, depicted in this illustration, will carry a broad suite of instruments into orbit around Jupiter and conduct multiple close flybys of Europa to gather information on its atmosphere, surface, and interior.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Europa Clipper spacecraft is set to launch in October 2024. Approximately how far is Europa from Earth?

A) 111 million miles
B) 222 million miles
C) 333 million miles
D) 444 million miles

October 19

MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment) was launched aboard NASA's Perseverance rover to test a technology for extracting oxygen from the Red Planet's carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere. Audio of MOXIE's air compressor at work on Mars was captured by the microphone on Perseverance's SuperCam instrument on May 27, 2021, the 96th day of the rover's mission.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/CNES/IRAP

This past August, the MOXIE instrument on NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover completed its mission. It was the first instrument ever to do what on Mars?

A) Collect rock samples
C) Generate oxygen
B) Search for life
D) Cook a hot dog

October 13

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will take a spiral path to the asteroid Psyche, as depicted in this graphic, which is labeled with key milestones of the prime mission. The test periods for NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) technology demonstration are indicated with red dots.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Which planet’s gravity will assist NASA’s Psyche mission in its trajectory toward a rendezvous with an asteroid?

A) Venus
B) Mars
C) Jupiter
D) Saturn

October 5

NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer sits in a clean room at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, shortly after being integrated with its second and final science instrument, the Lunar Thermal Mapper. Green tape on the spacecraft will be removed before launch.

Credit: Lockheed Martin Space

NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer will work to help researchers understand the nature of what on the Moon's surface?

A) Water
B) Gravity
C) Air
D) Sunlight

September 29

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Mars Ingenuity helicopter is preparing for its 61st powered flight on the Red Planet. Since reaching Mars, how much time has Ingenuity spent in flight?

A) 15 minutes
B) 48 minutes
C) One hour and 48 minutes
D) Three hours and 26 minutes

September 15

A development rover that is part of NASA's CADRE (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration) technology demonstration drives over a rock during its first autonomous drive around the Mars Yard at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California in June 2023.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA wants to send a trio of these miniature rovers to explore off-world. Where are they going?

A) Mars Moon, Phobos

B) Earth's Moon

C) Near-Earth Asteroid

D) Saturn's Moon, Titan

September 7

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured this image of Bettys Rock using one of the rover navigation cameras on June 20, 2022, the 474th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured this image of "Bettys Rock" on June 20, 2022. The rock is named after Bettys Rock in what national park?

A) Joshua Tree

B) Shenandoah

C) Badlands

D) Grand Teton

August 10

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured these sun rays shining through clouds at sunset on Feb. 2, 2023. It was the first time that sun rays, also known as crepuscular rays, have been viewed so clearly on Mars.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/SSI

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured these "sun rays", also known as crepuscular rays, shining through clouds at sunset. "Crepuscular" is taken from the Latin word for:

A) Twilight

B) Dawn

C) Evening

D) Glowing

August 1

This image acquired on December 29, 2022 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows Hellespontus Montes, a rugged mountain range located on the western rim of one of the largest impact basins in the Solar System: Hellas Basin.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Hellespontus Montes is a mountain range on Mars that has formed a unique local landscape. Scientists believe it is due to:

A) Water

B) Glaciers

C) Lava

D) Wind

NASA's Psyche spacecraft is shown in a clean room on June 26, 2023, at the Astrotech Space Operations facility near the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

Engineers and technicians at Cape Canaveral are preparing NASA’s Psyche spacecraft for liftoff, which is slated for Oct. 5. Psyche will visit:

A.) A metal-rich asteroid

B.) A long-period comet

C.) The moons of Mars

D.) The moons of Jupiter

July 13

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured this doughnut-shaped rock in Jezero Crater from about 328 feet (100 meters) away using its Remote Microscopic Imager (RMI), on June 22, 2023.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/LANL/CNES/IRAP

On June 22, NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover captured an image of a rock in Jezero Crater shaped like which of the following food items?

A. A pizza

B. A doughnut

C. An artichoke

D. A banana

July 1

NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured dramatic plumes, both large and small, spray water ice out from many locations along the famed 'tiger stripes' near the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus.

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Which essential element, necessary for life, was recently discovered on Saturn's moon, Enceladus?

A. Boron

B. Sulfur

C. Titanium

D. Phosphorus

June 9, 2023

A jet of particles pierces a star as it collapses into a black hole in this artist’s concept of a typical gamma-ray burst. The star, in the lower left corner, is swirled with light blue and gray features on its surface. The jet points toward the upper rig

A jet of particles pierces a star as it collapses into a black hole during a typical gamma-ray burst, as depicted in this artist’s concept. The jet created by gamma-ray burst 221009A had some unique features.

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

This week, observations by NASA’s NuSTAR X-ray telescope gave astronomers new clues about the brightest and most energetic gamma-ray burst ever detected. Gamma ray bursts occur when:

A. A pair of black holes collide

B. The core of a massive star collapses

C. A planet falls into a massive star

D. A planet is vaporized by a super-laser from the Death Star

May 26, 2023

NASA’s Juno mission captured this infrared view of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io on July 5, 2022, when the spacecraft was about 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers) away. This infrared image was derived from data collected by the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument aboard Juno. In this image, the brighter the color the higher the temperature recorded by JIRAM. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM Full Image Details

What is the most volcanically active body in the solar system?

A. Earth
B. Venus
C. Jupiter's moon Io
D. Saturn's moon Enceladus