Space Race Events Quiz
Instructions: How well do you recall the thrilling milestones of the Space Race?
- 1.
In what year did the Soviet Union launch Sputnik, the first artificial satellite?
A1959B1961C1955D1957 - 2.
Who was the first human to orbit the Earth?
AYuri GagarinBJohn GlennCAlan ShepardDValentina Tereshkova - 3.
Who was the first American to orbit the Earth?
AAlan ShepardBScott CarpenterCJohn GlennDGus Grissom - 4.
On what date did Neil Armstrong first walk on the Moon?
AAugust 5, 1969BJuly 24, 1969CJuly 20, 1969DJuly 16, 1969 - 5.
What was the name of the first animal sent into orbit by the Soviet Union?
AHamBFelicetteCLaikaDEnos - 6.
Which Apollo mission experienced a near-disaster and was called a 'successful failure'?
AApollo 17BApollo 8CApollo 13DApollo 1 - 7.
Who was the first American in space (suborbital flight)?
AAlan ShepardBJohn GlennCWally SchirraDGus Grissom - 8.
Which president delivered the famous speech committing America to landing on the Moon?
ALyndon JohnsonBDwight EisenhowerCJohn F. KennedyDRichard Nixon - 9.
What was the first manned Apollo mission to orbit the Moon?
AApollo 11BApollo 10CApollo 8DApollo 7 - 10.
Who was the second person to walk on the Moon?
AMichael CollinsBBuzz AldrinCAlan BeanDPete Conrad - 11.
Which Soviet cosmonaut performed the first spacewalk?
AAlexei LeonovBVladimir KomarovCYuri GagarinDGherman Titov - 12.
What was the name of the joint US-Soviet space mission in 1975?
AApollo-Soyuz Test ProjectBSpace Shuttle ColumbiaCSkylabDGemini-Vostok - 13.
Which was the last Apollo mission to land on the Moon?
AApollo 18BApollo 17CApollo 16DApollo 15 - 14.
What tragic event killed three astronauts during a launch pad test in January 1967?
AApollo 1 fireBColumbia disasterCChallenger disasterDApollo 13 accident - 15.
What was America's first space station, launched in 1973?
ASalyutBSkylabCFreedomDMir
Answer Key
The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, marking the beginning of the Space Age and the Space Race.
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space on April 12, 1961, orbiting Earth aboard Vostok 1.
John Glenn orbited the Earth three times on February 20, 1962, aboard Friendship 7, becoming a national hero.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969, during the Apollo 11 mission.
Laika, a stray dog from Moscow, was sent into orbit aboard Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957, becoming the first animal to orbit Earth.
Apollo 13 suffered an oxygen tank explosion in April 1970, but the crew safely returned to Earth in one of NASA's finest hours.
Alan Shepard became the first American in space on May 5, 1961, making a 15-minute suborbital flight aboard Freedom 7.
President John F. Kennedy delivered his famous Moon speech to Congress on May 25, 1961, pledging to land a man on the Moon by the end of the decade.
Apollo 8, crewed by Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders, became the first manned spacecraft to orbit the Moon in December 1968.
Buzz Aldrin was the second person to walk on the Moon, following Neil Armstrong during the Apollo 11 mission on July 20, 1969.
Alexei Leonov performed the first extravehicular activity (spacewalk) on March 18, 1965, floating outside the Voskhod 2 spacecraft for 12 minutes.
The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in July 1975 was the first joint US-Soviet space mission, symbolizing a thaw in Cold War tensions.
Apollo 17 in December 1972 was the last manned Moon landing mission, with Eugene Cernan being the last person to walk on the Moon.
The Apollo 1 fire on January 27, 1967, killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee during a pre-launch test.
Skylab was the United States' first space station, launched on May 14, 1973, and hosted three crews of astronauts before being abandoned in 1974.