NASA Trivia

Challenge your knowledge of the U.S. space agency’s history, missions, astronauts, and ground-breaking achievements. From the early days of the space race to today’s missions to Mars and beyond, NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has been at the forefront of space exploration, science, and innovation. Whether you’re a casual fan of spaceflight or a dedicated space enthusiast, these 50 questions—ranging from easy to hard—will put your knowledge to the test.

Questions

1. What does NASA stand for?
2. In which year was NASA founded?
3. Who was the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth?
4. What was the name of the first manned mission to land on the Moon?
5. Who was the first person to walk on the Moon?
6. Which U.S. president gave the famous speech promising to land a man on the Moon by the end of the 1960s?
7. What is the name of NASA’s most famous space telescope, launched in 1990?
8. What was the first space shuttle launched by NASA?
9. Which NASA rover landed on Mars in 2012?
10. What is the nickname of NASA’s Artemis program?
11. Which planet did NASA’s Voyager 2 become the first spacecraft to fly past in 1986?
12. What does the “A” in NASA stand for?
13. Which Apollo mission was famously called “a successful failure”?
14. What is the name of NASA’s primary launch site in Florida?
15. Which spacecraft carried the first American woman into space?

16. What year did the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occur?
17. Who was the first American woman in space?
18. What does ISS stand for in NASA terminology?
19. Which Mars rover was active for nearly 15 years after landing in 2004?
20. What was the first U.S. space station launched by NASA?
21. Which Apollo mission was the last to land humans on the Moon?
22. Who was the first American to perform a spacewalk?
23. What is the name of NASA’s most recent Mars rover, which landed in 2021?
24. What is the main purpose of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope?
25. What is the name of the first U.S. satellite launched into space?
26. Which NASA mission brought back the first samples from an asteroid in 2023?
27. What was the name of the first reusable spacecraft designed by NASA?
28. Which astronaut became the first to fly in space six times under NASA missions?
29. In 1977, NASA launched Voyager 1 and 2. What special message do they carry?
30. What is the name of NASA’s program aiming to send humans to Mars?
31. Which space shuttle was used for the final shuttle mission in 2011?
32. Who was the first American astronaut to spend nearly a year in space?
33. Which NASA mission first flew by Pluto in 2015?
34. What NASA mission delivered the first detailed images of Saturn’s rings?
35. Who was the first astronaut to pilot the space shuttle?

36. What year did NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft launch?
37. Which Apollo mission was the first to orbit the Moon without landing?
38. What was the name of NASA’s first planetary probe?
39. Who was the first African-American astronaut to fly in space with NASA?
40. Which NASA mission successfully landed the first spacecraft on Venus?
41. What is the maximum crew capacity of the Orion spacecraft?
42. Which Apollo mission included the first lunar rover?
43. What is the name of NASA’s program that studied the outer planets in the 1970s and 80s?
44. What is the farthest human-made object from Earth, operated by NASA?
45. Which NASA mission was responsible for discovering water ice on the Moon?
46. What year did NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope suffer its initial mirror flaw?
47. What was the name of the first NASA spacecraft to orbit Mercury?
48. Which NASA mission tested solar sail technology in space?
49. Who was the first person to command the International Space Station for NASA?
50. Which upcoming NASA mission aims to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa?

Answers

1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
2. 1958
3. John Glenn
4. Apollo 11
5. Neil Armstrong
6. John F. Kennedy
7. Hubble Space Telescope
8. Space Shuttle Columbia
9. Curiosity
10. Artemis – “Return to the Moon” program
11. Uranus
12. Aeronautics
13. Apollo 13
14. Kennedy Space Center
15. Space Shuttle Challenger
16. 2003
17. Sally Ride
18. International Space Station
19. Opportunity
20. Skylab
21. Apollo 17
22. Ed White
23. Perseverance
24. To observe the universe in infrared
25. Explorer 1
26. OSIRIS-REx
27. Space Shuttle
28. Franklin Chang-Díaz
29. Golden Record (with sounds and images of Earth)
30. The Journey to Mars (long-term concept)
31. Atlantis
32. Scott Kelly
33. New Horizons
34. Cassini
35. John Young
36. 2006
37. Apollo 8
38. Pioneer 4
39. Guion S. Bluford
40. Pioneer Venus
41. Four
42. Apollo 15
43. Voyager program
44. Voyager 1
45. Lunar Prospector
46. 1990
47. MESSENGER
48. NanoSail-D2
49. William Shepherd
50. Europa Clipper