The Spacecraft of Apollo Quiz | Man in Space

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. This command module orbited the moon with Michael Collins while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. Which was it?

Answer: Columbia

Though America has a long history with the name/term Columbia, as in the District of Columbia, it is also thought that the name was given as an homage to Jules Verne's massive "Columbiad Cannon", which launched the spaceships in his book "From the Earth to the Moon".

The "Columbia" can be seen at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, District of Columbia.

2. The namesake for the Apollo 12 command module is actually depicted in the mission patch. What is its name?

Answer: Yankee Clipper

Apollo 12 (Pete Conrad, Dick Gordon and Alan Bean) was the first all Navy crew. Both the command module "Yankee Clipper" and the lunar module "Intrepid" reflect this. Incidentally, the lunar module pilot originally assigned to this crew (prior to being named the prime crew for Apollo 12), C. C. Williams, was a Marine, which is part of the Navy Department. Clifton "C C" Williams was killed in a plane crash while going to see his ailing father. C.C. is also represented on the mission patch, as a 4th star off to the side of the other three.

The "Yankee Clipper" can be seen at the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, VA.

3. This lunar module from Apollo 13 never landed on the moon, though its use as a "lifeboat" saved the lives of its crew.

Answer: Aquarius

Sadly, because it was not designed to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere, the "Aquarius" was destroyed by the heat of re-entry, after its crew had transferred back into the command module "Odyssey".

James Lovell, the Apollo 13 commander, also saw the irony in the naming of the "Odyssey", the definition of which is "a long series of wanderings or adventures, esp. when filled with notable experiences, hardships, etc."

The "Odyssey" can be viewed today Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center.

4. As the first American in space, albeit in a suborbital flight, it is fair to say that Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard knows a bit about first flights. It's not surprising, then, that this was the name of the Apollo 14 command module.

Answer: Kitty Hawk

The launching point of for the Wright Brother's first powered flight, Kitty Hawk, NC. It is also the name of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, which appealed to Shepard, a former Navy test pilot.

The "Kitty Hawk" can be seen at the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame in Titusville, FL.

5. During a telecast to schoolchildren from the surface of the moon, commander Dave Scott proves Galileo's theory of gravity and mass, by dropping a feather from this bird at the same time as a hammer, both of which fall slowly in the moon's 1/6 gravity and land at the same time. The name of the lunar module shares the same name as this bird who gave up the feather

Answer: Falcon

Apollo 15 Astronauts Dave Scott, James Irwin and Alfred Worden were an all Air Force crew. The specific feather which was used on the moon came straight from the mascot of the U.S. Air Force Academy, a falcon. They also deferred to their service heritage when naming their lunar module, the "Falcon".

6. As the first expanded science mission to the moon, Apollo 15 named its command module "Endeavour" after the ship sailed by this famous 18th century explorer.

Answer: Captain James Cook

After budget cuts cancelled the final two Apollo flights, Apollo 15's mission was changed to the first of the J-Missions, which included upgraded backpacks for longer stays on the moon and the lunar rover for more extensive exploring and surveying.

During Cook's three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, he charted New Zealand, Australia, and numerous island chains all the way up to the Bering Strait, before being killed in Hawaii during his third voyage.

The command module "Endeavour" can be seen at the National Musuem of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

7. Apollo 16's lunar module is the only US manned spacecraft named for a constellation. What was its name?

Answer: Orion

The "Orion" carried John Young and Charlie Duke to the surface of the moon, leaving Ken Mattingly orbiting in the command module "Casper".

"Casper" can be seen at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama.

8. Like Apollo 11, Apollo 17, the last of the moon landings, had as its command module another patriotic name. What was it?

Answer: America

Launching in December, 1972, the Apollo 17 launch was the first, and only, night launch of the Saturn V spacecraft. The light could be seen all the way to North Carolina.

"America" is on display at the Space Center Houston, Houston, TX.

9. In addition to the Apollo 13 lunar module, there were two other manned lunar module flights which flew in space but did not land on the moon. What were their names?

Answer: Spider and Snoopy

"Spider" was the first manned lunar module, flown on Apollo 9. It was flown by Commander James McDivitt with lunar module pilot Rusty Schweickart. Leaving command module pilot Dave Scott in the command module "Gumdrop", "Spider" flew out to a distance of 111 miles, completing its "shakedown" mission with no problems. It was the first time that men had ventured alone in a spacecraft that could not re-enter the earth's atmosphere.

"Snoopy" was flown by commander Tom Stafford and lunar module pilot Eugene Cernan on Apollo 10, in a full dress rehearsal of a moon landing. Undocking from the command module "Charlie Brown" and its pilot, John Young, Stafford and Cernan flew "Snoopy" to within 8.4 nautical miles of the surface of the moon.

"Gumdrop" can be seen today at the San Diego Aerospace Museum, while "Charlie Brown" is on display at the Science Museum, London.

10. Three space shuttles shared their name with either a lunar module or command module from the Apollo flights. Which three are they?

Answer: Columbia, Challenger, Endeavour

Tragically, both the Columbia and the Challenger were both destroyed during missions. The Challenger spectacularly exploded 71 seconds into its flight in January, 1986, and Columbia disentegrated during re-entry in February, 2003.

Of the others listed, Atlantis and Discovery were both built as operational shuttles, and the Enterprise was only flown in original flight tests within the earth's atmosphere and was never outfitted with engines.

Source: Author kimaanja

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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