Q 01/05

Wernher von Braun was the chief architect of which rocket that carried Apollo astronauts to the Moon?

A) Saturn V

B) Titan II

C) Atlas-Centaur

D) Saturn IB

Answer · why

A) Saturn V

Saturn V was test-flown "all-up", with every stage live on its very first launch in 1967, a shortcut von Braun's cautious team at first thought mad. I...

Q 02/05

Which animal rode von Braun's Mercury-Redstone rocket into space in January 1961, three months before any American astronaut?

A) A chimpanzee

B) A stray dog

C) A tortoise

D) A rabbit

Answer · why

A) A chimpanzee

A chimpanzee named Ham pulled levers on cue through a 16-minute flight that went higher and farther than planned, then calmly shook hands with the com...

Q 03/05

Von Braun's V-2 rocket became the first human-made object to do what?

A) Orbit the Earth

B) Reach the Moon

C) Escape Earth's gravity

D) Reach outer space

Answer · why

D) Reach outer space

Reach outer space: a test V-2 fired straight up in 1944 climbed far past the 100 km line, and captured V-2s fired from the American desert were soon f...

Q 04/05

Under which secret program was von Braun brought to the United States after the war?

A) Operation Alsos

B) Operation Osoaviakhim

C) Operation Backfire

D) Operation Paperclip

Answer · why

D) Operation Paperclip

Operation Paperclip brought roughly 1,600 German specialists to America, and as the stay became permanent the Nazi records of some recruits, von Braun...

Q 05/05

Von Braun's rockets launched which satellite, America's first, in 1958?

A) Vanguard 1

B) Telstar 1

C) Echo 1

D) Explorer 1

Answer · why

D) Explorer 1

Explorer 1 carried James Van Allen's radiation detector, and its odd readings revealed the belts of trapped radiation circling Earth that now bear his...