Special Sub-Topic: History of Space Flights Click Here To Play: History of Space Flights

It's November 1957 and the Soviet Union has just launched the first living creature into space. Can you name the little dog?

Laika. Laika travelled in a padded, pressurised compartment and survived for a few days. I bet she was petrified and would have preferred a bone, or a walk in the woods.

It's the 1960's and the space race is underway. What aircraft was used to test flying at hypersonic speeds by the USA?

X-15. The rocket powered motors were ignited at high altitude and reached an incredible speed of 6,500 kmph. That means 4,062 miles per hour, almost unimaginable at that time.

Name the first woman in space?

Valentina Tereshkova. Sally Ride was the first American woman in space. Yuri Gagarin and Valentin Lebedev were both male cosmonauts.

The 13 March 1986, was a very famous date in space history. What happened on that date?

Giotto made a close flyby of Haley's comet. There were five probes in total that year. The most successful, Giotto, got within 600 kilometres of the comet's nucleus. Giotto was European, and was named after the 14th century Italian painter, Giotto.

American astronaut, John Glenn, has quite a claim to fame in space history. Do you know what that claim is?

all of these (first American to orbit the earth, travelled more than once in space, oldest man to travel in space). At 77, in 1998, he became the oldest man to travel in space. If I ever live to be 77, I think I'll settle for the tv and a chat with other survivors.

By the 1990's, the Cold War was over and space history began to develop in a more co-operative way. Can you name the first part of the International Space Station launched in that year?

Zarya. In November, 1998, Zarya was launched aboard a Russian Proton rocket.

Where did the space probe NEAR land in February 2,001?

asteroid. NEAR stands for NEAR EARTH ASTEROID RENDEZVOUS ... bet you did not know that. OK! Just checking.

Who was the first man buried on the moon?

Gene Shoemaker. He was a famous geologist and his ashes were on board Lunar Prospector when it crash landed on the moon.

Russia has a huge space centre and museum. What is this called?

Star City. It is the home and training centre of all Russian cosmonauts and it is in Moscow.

In which US city would you find The National Air And Space Museum?

Washington DC. This is home to the Apollo 11 module which brought the first astronauts back after they had landed on the moon.