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THIS MONTH 59 years ago, the Soviet Union became the first nation on Earth to send a man into outer space.
At the time, the US was also scrambling to be the first country to accomplish such a mission but it didn’t send the first American into space until one month later.
Since then hundreds of men and women have journeyed into outer space and astronauts, still to this day, continue to explore what the mystery of the universe.
So let’s test your knowledge of outer space.
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10/10. Yanks won the space race because they had better Nazis.
@Gavin Tobin: deliberately provocative I take it. Yes Van Braun definitely helped them with the propulsion to get them out of the atmosphere but that’s only the small part. To suggest the US team didn’t have the right stuff is reductionism at it’s finest.
@Mjhint: How did you do in the quiz?
@Mjhint: operation paper clip
@Mjhint: operation paperclip…my listening to joe rogan finally paid off
@Gavin Tobin: Yanks won the space race? Who put the first Man / Woman / Probe into space? Who made the first spacewalk? Who sent the first probe to the moon? Who took the first pictures of the far side of the moon? Who’s hardware do they use to get to the ISS? Yes, USA won the ‘man on the moon’ race, but they’re hardly the winners of the space race.
@Gavin Tobin: I think you’ll find the Russians did.
@Gavin Tobin: and a ‘Jarleth’
@OConnelj: 10/10
@Stephen Deegan: the space race didn’t end in the 60s. Who sent voyager or curiosity. The Russians have the best technology in relation to rockets and getting off the planet but it’s the electronics that navigate space and perform landings on surfaces. That’s where the US leads the world…..So far.
In the words of Jerry Smith: “Pluto is a planet!”
@Thomas Lyndon: in the words of Homer
“ Purple is a fruit “
@Self Employed Anarchist: I was always adamant of saying Pluto was a planet because I hadn’t come across anything better than “My Very Easy Method Just Sums Up Nine Planets”.
Then I heard about “Mary’s Virgin Explanation Made Joseph Suspect Upstairs Neighbour”.
With that, I’ve now demoted Pluto. Reluctantly, but it had to be done.
@Tá Donncha sa bhaile: desolé
Butros Butroscali
@Tá Donncha sa bhaile: My visitor eats many jam sandwiches using no plate.
The last question was not about space, it was about a film.
With the vastness of outer space you’d imagine they could have come up with another question about outer space.
@Davis Payne: Same as, only one to catch me but hey, it’s Easter, enjoy…
10/10 , answered by my 9 year old son!! :)
@Michael O Reilly: my son got 11/10
@Michael O Reilly: Eggcellent!!
Literally watching Interstellar right now… It’s really really really really really stunning
@Joe: and you picked up your phone
Fun fact about Olympus Mons: although incredibly tall, it is also incredibly massive and widespread. So much so, that its gradient slope is equal to only about 5⁰. When combined with the planet’s curvature, it means if you were standing on top you would be completely unaware that you were on a mountain. Mars also has the deepest canyon in the Solar System – Melas Chasma, over 7 km deep – in what’s the longest canyon system in the Solar System: Valles Marineris. Also, Phobos, one of its moons, orbits at an altitude of only c. 9200 km and is in a terminal orbit, due to impact Mars in about 50 million years. It’s also only about 11 km across. Because of its size and altitude, it appears about ⅓ the size of our moon, but speeds past in the sky completing a full orbit every 7 hours 40 mins.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: another is while closest to the sun, Mercury is half an ice ball. Its day is longer than its year and it has double sun-rises.
@Ger: not true
@Ger: not true. Mercury has a long sidereal period (length of day) alright, but its year is longer. It takes Mercury approximately 59 Earth days before it completes one full spin to firm a Mercurian day. It takes 88 Earth days to orbit the Sun. So, its year is definitely longer than its day. You might be thinking of Venus, which takes 225 Earth days to orbit the Sun, but 243 days to form a Venutian day, meaning its day is longer than its year. It also has a retrograde spin, but definitely is no ice block…
Got 9 out of 10
@Charles Malone: Well done Charles. Sitting in my back garden looking at Venus at the moment. 6 for me.
@OConnelj: put you trousers back on. I can see Uranus
@OConnelj: Got a fine photo of Venus showing its phase clearly the other night, 150-600 Sigma sport with a 1.4x converter, tried many times a d failed…
If you look to the western sky, Venus is magnificent at the moment. Mars is visible too. Not normal time. I love in Dublin, the sky’s are not normally this clear.
@owentighe: excuse the phone spelling. I’m sure you can interpret!
@owentighe: don’t blame the phone Owen
I know FFG are out there living on another planet somewhere
@Agenda21: Give it a rest
@Agenda21: …You manage to turn a fun science quiz and relate it to FFG…
Deserves 10/10 just for that. Wow!
@Ryanon: deserves a kick in the hole
@HectorPickaxe: I’m very sorry if I hurt your feelings, maybe grow a sense of humour hecturd
@Self Employed Anarchist: your legs would be too short to reach my ar5e little man
6/10
As Kevin MacAleer said
A small step for man
One giant buck leap for mankind
7 of 10
PLUTO IS A PLANET…..
@Eddie Michael: Pluto is a planet in the same way that Ceres is a planet. Another fun fact: we used to classify the Sun as a planet. This is why definitions change…
Was Neil really on the moon??
@Dave Barrett: Oh please. The American flag is still on it if you want to pop up there and check for yourself.
There should be a bonus question, “How many of these questions were actually about outer space?”
Its not outer space! Every question asked and the article are about near space. Max 7 To 8 light mins away
@THINK Paddy THINK: Outer space: the physical universe beyond Earth’s atmosphere. There is no such concept as “near space”.
America used natzi scientists .Google v2 rocket creator…..
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