Astronauts Who Also Did Art
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Astronauts Who Also Did Art — Daily trivia Wednesday, May 13, 2026: questions and answers
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Q 01Chris Hadfield ended his 2013 ISS command with which viral artistic send-off?
- ASketching each crewmate in charcoal
- BA recorded cover of Bowie's 'Space Oddity'
- CA live orbital poetry reading
- DSculpting a miniature station from foil
Show answer
A recorded cover of Bowie's 'Space Oddity'
He recorded it on the station's Larrivée parlour guitar and released the video on May 12, 2013, the day he handed over command. It has since passed 56 million YouTube views.
Q 02Which Apollo 12 moonwalker became an artist known for mixing moon dust into his paintings?
- ABuzz Aldrin
- BAlan Bean
- CPete Conrad
- DCharles Duke
Show answer
Alan Bean
He quit NASA in June 1981 to paint full time. His spacesuit patches were still dirty with lunar dust, so he snipped tiny pieces into the canvases, and he insisted on painting the grey Moon in colour.
Q 03Which former NASA astronaut and aquanaut was the first person to paint with watercolors in space?
- ANicole Stott
- BCady Coleman
- CPeggy Whitson
- DMae Jemison
Show answer
Nicole Stott
She packed a small watercolour kit for ISS Expedition 21 in 2009. Her aquanaut credentials come from NEEMO 9, when she spent 18 days living in the Aquarius undersea habitat.
Q 04What did astronaut Karen Nyberg hand-make from scraps aboard the ISS in 2013, thought to be a first in space?
- AA patchwork quilt square
- BA stuffed toy dinosaur
- CA knitted hat
- DAn origami crane
Show answer
A stuffed toy dinosaur
Stuffed animals fly to space often, partly because they make good zero-gravity indicators: they start floating the moment orbit is reached. Her hobbies list includes sewing, quilting, drawing and painting.
Q 05Which pop artist's 'Moonwalk' came out of NASA's Fine Art Program?
- ARoy Lichtenstein
- BAndy Warhol
- CClaes Oldenburg
- DJasper Johns
Show answer
Andy Warhol
Norman Rockwell and James Wyeth were also commissioned, and Paul Calle, one of the first group, designed the 1969 stamp marking the first crewed Moon landing.
Q 06What did spacewalk pioneer Alexei Leonov, the first artist in space, take up to draw with?
- AColoured pencils and paper
- BA set of watercolours
- CCharcoal sticks
- DOil pastels on card
Show answer
Coloured pencils and paper
He sketched Earth from orbit and later drew portraits of the Apollo crew during the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission. Arthur C. Clarke noted that the opening shot of '2001: A Space Odyssey' matched Leonov's 1967 painting 'Near the Moon'.
Q 07Besides Moon dust, which lunar hardware did the Apollo 12 moonwalker turned painter use to texture his canvases?
- AA core-sample drill bit
- BThe strap of his rock-sample bag
- CThe hammer he used to plant the flagpole
- DA rung from the lunar module ladder
Show answer
The hammer he used to plant the flagpole
He also pressed a bronzed Moon boot into the paint. In 2009 the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum exhibited his lunar paintings for the Apollo 11 anniversary.
Q 08Which Belgian artist made 'Fallen Astronaut', the figurine Apollo 15's crew secretly left on the Moon in 1971?
- APaul Van Hoeydonck
- BPanamarenko
- CPol Bury
- DMarcel Broodthaers
Show answer
Paul Van Hoeydonck
Commander David Scott met the artist at a dinner party and the crew kept the memorial secret until after the mission. A row followed when Van Hoeydonck tried to sell up to 950 replicas.
Q 09Which Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot also published a collection of poetry?
- AAl Worden
- BJames Irwin
- CMichael Collins
- DDavid Scott
Show answer
Al Worden
Alfred Merrill 'Al' Worden, the Command Module Pilot for Apollo 15, published a book of poetry titled 'Hello Earth: Greetings from Endeavour' after his spaceflight.
Q 10What does Canadian Artemis II astronaut Jeremy Hansen's Anishinaabe-designed mission patch reference?
- AThe constellations visible from Canada
- BFamous Canadian explorers
- CThe Teachings of the Seven Grandfathers
- DThe Canadian national animal
Show answer
The Teachings of the Seven Grandfathers
Jeremy Hansen's mission patch for Artemis II was designed by Anishinaabe artist Henry Guimond and references the Teachings of the Seven Grandfathers, incorporating Indigenous wisdom into his space journey.
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