Q 01/05

Which American reached space 23 days after Gagarin's flight of 12 April 1961?

A) Gus Grissom

B) Alan Shepard

C) Gordon Cooper

D) Wally Schirra

Answer · why

B) Alan Shepard

Alan Shepard flew for just 15 minutes on 5 May 1961, a suborbital hop, yet ten years later he walked on the Moon as commander of Apollo 14.

Q 02/05

What was the name of the spacecraft that carried Gagarin into orbit?

A) Voskhod 1

B) Salyut 1

C) Sputnik 2

D) Vostok 1

Answer · why

D) Vostok 1

Vostok 1 kept its manual controls locked for the flight, and the code to free them sat in a sealed envelope on board in case of emergency.

Q 03/05

How long did Gagarin's spaceflight last?

A) 11 minutes

B) 108 minutes

C) 9 hours

D) 2 days

Answer · why

B) 108 minutes

108 minutes took him once around the planet before he came down near the city of Engels, where he told a frightened farm woman and a girl that he need...

Q 04/05

Which animal, Zvezdochka, flew the last rehearsal flight before Gagarin's launch?

A) A chimpanzee

B) A cat

C) A rabbit

D) A dog

Answer · why

D) A dog

A dog: Zvezdochka, 'Little Star', flew with a mannequin that played a recording of a choir, picked so that nobody tuning in could mistake it for a liv...

Q 05/05

From which launch site was Gagarin's spacecraft launched?

A) Vostochny Cosmodrome

B) Plesetsk Cosmodrome

C) Baikonur Cosmodrome

D) Kapustin Yar

Answer · why

C) Baikonur Cosmodrome

Baikonur Cosmodrome borrowed its name, by most accounts, from a mining town some 320 km away to hide where the pad really stood; that pad is now calle...