Q 01/05

What was the name of the first artificial satellite, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957?

A) Explorer 1

B) Sputnik 1

C) Vostok 1

D) Luna 1

Answer · why

B) Sputnik 1

The name translates as 'fellow traveler'; it was a beeping metal sphere less than two feet across that weighed under 200 pounds.

Q 02/05

Which Soviet rocket, the first ICBM, launched Sputnik and became the basis for Vostok and Soyuz?

A) R-7

B) N1

C) UR-500

D) R-5

Answer · why

A) R-7

It flew 6,000 km on August 21, 1957, and its descendants are still flying, making it the world's most reliable space launcher.

Q 03/05

Which German rocket engineer developed the Redstone rocket and first directed the Marshall Space Flight Center?

A) Hermann Oberth

B) Helmut Gröttrup

C) Wernher von Braun

D) Walter Dornberger

Answer · why

C) Wernher von Braun

His wartime A-4, better known as the V-2, was the missile both superpowers copied to start their programs.

Q 04/05

Which secret Soviet chief designer got the Academy of Sciences to commit in 1955 to beating the US to a satellite?

A) Mikhail Tikhonravov

B) Vladimir Chelomei

C) Valentin Glushko

D) Sergei Korolev

Answer · why

D) Sergei Korolev

Wikipedia treats that August 30, 1955 decision as the de facto start of the Space Race; he died in January 1966, weeks before Soyuz was ready.

Q 05/05

Which dog became the first animal in orbit, aboard the second Soviet satellite in 1957?

A) Strelka

B) Zvezdochka

C) Laika

D) Belka

Answer · why

C) Laika

There was no way to bring her home; in 2002 it emerged she died of stress and overheating on the fourth orbit, not when the oxygen ran out as first cl...