Q 01/05

Run by five space agencies across many time zones, the ISS sets its clocks to which time?

A) US Central Time

B) Moscow Standard Time

C) Greenwich Mean Time

D) Japan Standard Time

Answer · why

C) Greenwich Mean Time

Greenwich Mean Time gives the crew one fixed clock in a place where the Sun is useless for telling time, rising and setting on them many times a day, ...

Q 02/05

The first crew to live on the ISS arrived in November 2000 and asked to use which radio call sign for it?

A) Alpha

B) Olympus

C) Pioneer

D) Horizon

Answer · why

A) Alpha

Alpha was commander Bill Shepherd's pick, requested on the crew's first day aboard, and the ground agreed to it as a call sign. Their arrival began a ...

Q 03/05

Roughly how high above Earth does the ISS orbit?

A) 100 km (60 miles)

B) 400 km (250 miles)

C) 2,000 km (1,240 miles)

D) 36,000 km (22,000 miles)

Answer · why

B) 400 km (250 miles)

400 km (250 miles) is low enough that faint traces of atmosphere still drag on the station, so it is always slowly sinking and needs regular rocket fi...

Q 04/05

How long does the ISS take to complete one orbit of Earth?

A) About 10 minutes

B) About 30 minutes

C) About 93 minutes

D) About 5 hours

Answer · why

C) About 93 minutes

About 93 minutes is all a lap takes at some 28,000 km/h, so the crew flies into a new sunrise or sunset roughly every 45 minutes.

Q 05/05

Including its solar arrays, the ISS is about as large as what?

A) A football field

B) An aircraft carrier

C) An Olympic swimming pool

D) A tennis court

Answer · why

A) A football field

A football field is NASA's own yardstick: end to end the station spans 109 metres, a yard short of an American field with its end zones, though the cr...