Space Exploration and Astronomy

Water on the Moon was definitively confirmed in 2009 by data from Chandrayaan-1's Moon Mineralogy Mapper, with additional confirmation from NASA's LCROSS mission later that year. The LCROSS mission impacted a lunar crater and analyzed the ejecta, confirming the presence of water ice. 2006 and 2002 are too early, while 1998 was when preliminary hints were detected but not confirmed.

Apollo 17 (December 1972) was the final manned mission to the Moon in the Apollo program. No humans have returned to the Moon since, making it the last Apollo mission to reach space for lunar landing purposes.

Astronauts are trained individuals who travel in space, regardless of gender. Option A is incorrect because it excludes women and limits to pilots (some astronauts are mission specialists, not pilots). Option B is too broad, including non-living objects. Option D is incorrect because many NASA employees are not astronauts.

The Soviet Union (USSR) was the first country to send a woman into space. Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space on June 16, 1963, aboard Vostok 6. This achievement occurred 20 years before Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983.

Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut, became the first human to journey into outer space on April 12, 1961, aboard Vostok 1. Options A and D are garbled versions of Neil Armstrong's name (first Moon walker), while B is a phonetic corruption.

Chiron is a centaure object discovered in 1977 that orbits between Saturn and Uranus. It exhibits characteristics of both comets and asteroids, making it a unique 'mystery object' in our solar system.

Laika, a Soviet space dog, became the first animal to orbit Earth aboard Sputnik 2 in 1957. She was a stray dog from Moscow and sadly did not survive the mission, but her flight proved that living organisms could withstand space launch conditions.

Laika was the first dog to travel to space aboard the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 in 1957. She was a stray dog from Moscow and became the first living creature to orbit the Earth. Belka and Strelka were later Soviet space dogs who successfully returned to Earth.

Taikonaut is the Chinese term for astronaut. China's Shenzhou 7 mission, carrying taikonauts including Zhai Zhigang (who performed China's first spacewalk), was launched on September 25, 2008. This was a significant milestone in China's space program.

CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) conducted the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments in 2008, accelerating protons to nearly the speed of light to collide them and study fundamental particles. The LHC is the world's largest particle accelerator, located near Geneva.

Hayabusa was a Japanese space probe launched by JAXA to study the near-Earth asteroid Itokawa. In 2010, it successfully returned samples from the asteroid's surface to Earth - a historic first.

Neil Armstrong traveled to the moon on Apollo 11 mission in 1969. Sputnik was a Soviet satellite, GSLV and PSLV are Indian rockets developed much later. The Apollo program was NASA's lunar landing mission series.

France's first satellite was launched on November 26, 1965, and was indeed named Astérix-1 after the popular French comic character. This makes the statement correct as it accurately reflects both the timing and the naming of France's inaugural space mission.

John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth on February 20, 1962, during the Friendship 7 mission. He completed three orbits around the planet, marking a milestone in the Space Race.