General Awareness · Physics

Space Exploration and Astronomy

3,952 Questions

Review significant milestones in space exploration, including artificial satellites, reusable space shuttles, and historic lunar landings. This topic also covers astronomical phenomena and telescopic observations. Such scientific general knowledge is commonly tested in SSC, railways, and banking examinations.

Space shuttle missionsArtificial satellitesLunar and planetary landingsSpace telescopes and observatories

Space Exploration and Astronomy Questions

Multiple choice

Choose the correct option out in respect of happenings to astronauts in space.

  1. Their hair is in normal position as on the earth.

  2. They take proper food on dining table.

  3. They can take water in glass as we take on earth.

  4. Their feet do not stay on the floor.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

As there is no gravity or negligible amount of gravity so we cannot stand in space, our feet don't stay on the floor.

Multiple choice

Consider the following statements:

  1. The unlucky APOLLO 13 lunar landing was canceled after the explosion of the oxygen tank.
  2. Phobos and Domos are the two largest satellites of the solar system.

Which of the given statements is/are correct?

  1. Only 1

  2. Only 2

  3. Both 1 and 2

  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Statement 1 is correct. The unlucky APOLLO 13 lunar landing was canceled after the explosion of the oxygen tank. Statement 2 is incorrect. Phobos and Domos are the two smallest satellites of the solar system.

Multiple choice

Match the columns.

1. First man on the moon A. Laika
2. First animal in the space B. Valentina Tereshkowa
3. First person to walk in space C. Alexei Leonov
4. First woman in space D. Neil Armstrong

  1. 1 - D, 2 - C, 3 - A, 4 - B

  2. 1 - A, 2 - C, 3 - D, 4 - B

  3. 1 - D, 2 - A, 3 - C, 4 - B

  4. 1 - B, 2 - A, 3 - D, 4 - C

  5. 1 - A, 2 - B, 3 - C, 4 - D
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

This is a correct answer. Neil Armstrong was the first man who landed on the moon. First animal on moon was Laika. She was a stray dog launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. The first person who walk in space was Alexei Leonov.  He was the first person to conduct a spacewalk on March 18, 1965. Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to go into space, she flew Vostok 6 in 1963, spending almost three days in space.

Multiple choice

The first person to travel in space was

  1. Neel Armstrong

  2. Edger Barrows

  3. Eldrin

  4. Yuri Gagrin
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Yuri Gagarin was the first human to travel into space on April 12, 1961, aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft. The Soviet cosmonaut completed one orbit around the Earth, making history with this revolutionary achievement.

Multiple choice

Where is Baikonur Cosmodrome Space Launch Facility located?

  1. Russia

  2. Kazakhstan

  3. China

  4. Kyrgyzstan
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The Baikonur Cosmodrome is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan. It is leased by the Kazakh government to Russia.

A space launch facility or space port is a site for launching (or receiving) spacecraft. There are 4 space launch facilities in US. They are:
  • Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
  •  Kennedy Space Centre, Florida
  •  Edwards Air Force Base, California 
  • Mojave Spaceport, California
There is one space launch facility in China which is the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. There are only the above six spaceports in the world and there is no spaceport in Russia and Kyrgyzstan. Hence, option 2 is correct.

Multiple choice

In which of the following phases of his mission to Moon could Neil Armstrong not hear any sound except for the sound produced by his headset?

  1. When he was training for weightless conditions submerged below the water surface in a water tank

  2. When he was training for the mission in high altitude test flights in very rarified atmosphere

  3. When he was actually travelling in the Saturn V rocket in space

  4. When he was walking on the surface of Moon
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Sound is a mechanical wave and needs a material medium like air, water, steel, etc. for its propagation, i.e. it cannot travel through vacuum. Thus, Neil Armstrong would not have been able to hear any sound except for his communication with mission control through his headset when he was walking on the surface of Moon as Moon has no atmosphere.

Multiple choice

On May 23, 2014, the International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE) declared Tersicoccus phoenicis as one of its 'Top 10 New Species of 2014'. This bacterium was identified in which of the following?

  1. Spacecraft

  2. Space station

  3. Mars

  4. Polar regions
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Tersicoccus phoenicis was identified in the clean room facilities of the spacecraft. They are able to survive the hard sterilisation procedures used to sterilise the clean rooms of the spacecraft.

Multiple choice

NASA stands for

  1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  2. Northern Aeronautics and Space Administration

  3. National Aeronautics and Space Academy

  4. National Aeronautics and Social Administration
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Correct answer is (1).