1. An oxygen tank exploded.
   An O-ring seal failed.
2. A bird was sucked into the air intake on launch.
   Fine meteorite debris clogged the air filters.

The Apollo 13 accident was somewhat unusual in that it took place more than two days into the mission. Most mechanical problems would be expected to occur during launch or re-entry. But the astronauts were 56 hours in and had just turned on oxygen-stirring fans in the service module when the tank exploded, creating a crisis.

1. Neil Armstrong
   Buzz Aldrin
2. Michael Collins
   John Glenn

John Glenn's triumphs came earlier. Well, and later. He was the first American to get into orbit, as opposed to just into space, in 1962. Later, he became a successful U.S. senator from Ohio. We lost Glenn in late 2016.

1. A fire in the cabin killed the entire crew.
   The craft exploded on launch.
2. The flight was called off to honor Kennedy's assassination.
   It was called off after the commander died of a heart attack.

The fatal fire took place during a launch rehearsal, not the attempted launch itself (which, obviously, never happened). It was a terrible start to the lunar exploration program, and the mission's name, Apollo 1, was retired to honor the dead.

1. They were the backup crew.
   They were the recovery crew at splashdown.
2. They designed the lunar module.
   They designed the mission patch.

Each mission had a "prime" crew, a "backup" crew and a third "support" crew. If there's one thing space flight requires, it's contingency plans.Throughout the Apollo program, astronauts got pretty accustomed to switching back and forth between these roles, as medical or other issues necessitated changes in the prime crew.

1. A lunar landing module
   The nickname for the lunar rover
2. A replica of Earth left on the moon
   A photograph of Earth taken from the moon

The Apollo missions are sometimes credited with the rising interest in environmentalism in the 1970s. This is largely due to the image of Earth as a self-contained ecosystem in space, captured by the crew of Apollo 17. To many, the photo underscores both the unity and fragility of planet Earth.

1. Greek mythology
   Norse mythology
2. Early science history
   The first "Battlestar Galactica" series

Apollo was the Greek god of the sun, depicted as driving it across the sky as a flaming chariot. He is also associated with rational thought and learning. So, overall, an excellent choice. (As much as we loved the old "Battlestar Galactica," with its heroic Captain Apollo, it premiered long after the lunar missions).

1. Boeing
   Lockheed
2. Ryobi
   Saturn

The choice of name was fairly practical: A previous family of rockets had been called "Jupiter," after the fifth planet in our solar system, and Saturn is the sixth planet. The Saturn rockets capably launched the Apollo command modules into space with no significant problems.

1. James McDivitt
   Gus Grissom
2. Deke Slayton
   Russell Schweickart

Virgil "Gus" Grissom had made two previous trips into space. He was the second American to achieve suborbital flight, after Alan Shepard. With service in both World War II and the Korean War, two spaceflights and an engineering degree from Purdue University, Grissom packed a lot into a life cut short.

1. At a parade in Washington, D.C.
   Partying in Honolulu
2. Going home to their families
   They were in biological quarantine.

Though NASA scientists understood that the risk of pathogens from the moon was low, because of its dry, sterile environment, they didn't take any chances. Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins had to greet well-wishers like President Nixon and the head of NASA through the window of an isolation room.

1. Albert Einstein
   Niels Bohr
2. Max Planck
   Wernher von Braun

Von Braun is a somewhat polarizing figure in American science history. Undeniably a genius, he worked in his early years for the Third Reich before defecting to the United States and helping NASA to get its spacecraft off the ground. He became a devout Christian after coming to America.

1. The ISS
   The Rising Star
2. Skylab
   Mir

Skylab was an early 1970s space station, which used the Apollo Telescope Mount. Skylab crashed back down to Earth in 1979, with the world's eyes on it, wondering where it was going to land. Western Australia turned out to be the winner. Given the ingenuity of Australians, we like to think that a couple of back-country mechanics put it back together and are happily flying around in it to this day.

1. None
   1
2. 2
   3

So far, only the United States holds this distinction. It's hard to understand why other countries haven't followed suit. We mean, after the U.S. found a source of cheap fuel up there, and plentiful mining resources and a hospitable environment for colonization, ... oh, *wait.* We're starting to see the problem.

1. 2
   3
2. 6
   12

Ask many Americans, and they'll probably think either of Armstrong and Aldrin, or of Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins, the entire three-man crew of the Apollo 11 mission. Later lunar missions didn't get nearly the same amount of attention.

1. Brian
   Edwin
2. Matthew
   Mark

The nickname "Buzz" came from Aldrin's sister mispronouncing the word "brother" as "buzzer." At least, that's the story. But really, a high school football star who became a fighter pilot and then an astronaut ... Why wouldn't you call him "Buzz"? "Edwin" just doesn't seem to fit.

1. "At last."
   "Beautiful view."
2. "I'm number two. I try harder."
   "Oh my God, what is that thing?"

When Aldrin joined Armstrong on the moon's surface, they exchanged comments about the scene, with Armstrong responding "Magnificent sight out here" and Aldrin adding, "Magnificent desolation." This friendly exchange belies Aldrin's resentment over being the second one out of the lunar module; an original plan had him going out the door first, making him the first man to step on the moon.

1. Backup
   Habitation
2. Lunar
   Disposable

The lunar module was the craft that went down to the surface of the moon to make a soft landing (one in which the craft wasn't destroyed by the impact). The most famous one was the "Eagle," whose name allowed for the famous phrase, "The Eagle has landed."

1. Australia
   China
2. Japan
   South Africa

A "soft landing" means the craft is undamaged and able to perform activities on the surface of the moon (e.g., take soil samples). Most recently, China made a soft landing on the dark side of the moon, the first mission ever to land there. (It's nice to get away from all the noise and traffic of the tourist side, we suppose).

1. 10
   14
2. 17
   22

Though overshadowed by Apollo 11, the Apollo 17 mission was an ambitious one that also put men on the surface of the moon. It was the longest lunar orbit and lunar landing, and it brought home more geologic material than any other mission.

1. 8
   10
2. 11
   13

Apollo 11 was launched in July 1969, with a three-man crew. If you chose (or were tempted by) "Apollo 13," it's likely because it was the subject of a movie by Ron Howard. "Apollo 13" was about an aborted lunar landing and the struggle to get the crippled craft and its astronauts home safely.

1. "a"
   "American"
2. "this"
   "all"

Many people have noted that while Armstrong's sentiment was clear, it really doesn't make sense as he said it. "Man" and "mankind" are used interchangeably to mean "humanity," so the word "a" before "man" was needed for adequate contrast. (You can listen to the recording and try to discern the article "a" in his speech, but it really isn't there).

1. True
2. False

Did you think the person talking to the crew would be a NASA egghead from within the ground crew? So did we, but it turns out that NASA felt an astronaut would be best able to understand what the crew was trying to tell him and relay information back. That's why a fellow space jockey (or at least an aspiring one) filled the role.

1. Atlantic
   Pacific
2. Indian
   Southern

Returning spacecraft and astronauts always make a water landing. The three Apollo 11 spacefarers were retrieved from the Pacific Ocean and taken to the USS Hornet, where no less a figure than the President of the United States waited to greet them.

1. The U.S. Army
   The U.S. Air Force
2. The National Air and Space Administraion
   The National Aeronautics and Space Administration

For this question, the devil is in the details. NASA stands for "National Aeronautics and Space Administration," not "Air and Space." Nor is the second "A" for "Agency," as some people might tell you. It's an "Administration."

1. "Charlie Brown" and "Snoopy"
   "Greased Lightning" and "Thunder"
2. "Ginger" and "Mary Ann"
   "Bert" and "Ernie"

NASA overruled the astronauts on this one, finding the names too lighthearted, given that the public would be hearing them in new stories. "Columbia" and "Eagle" were chosen because they were national symbols. The former is a poetic alternate name for America, while the bald eagle is, of course, America's national emblem.

1. True
2. False

There is no consumer-issue telescope powerful enough to spot the American flags (there's more than one) on the moon. Don't let that discourage you from checking out the lunar surface: as Earth's closest neighbor, it makes for great viewing. A Schmidt-Cassegrain-style scope, with a wide, solid body that "folds" the beam of light several times for maximum clarity in a small space, is ideal for moon viewing.

1. 20
   50
2. About 100
   More than 800

Scientists wanted the soil and rocks to learn about the moon's geologic history, past volcanic activity and the like. These things can tell us a lot about the history of the Earth, as well. However, we can't help but wonder if a certain amount of lunar material went for "souvenirs," secretly passed out to kids or used to impress first dates. Maybe we're just being cynical.

1. To Congress, after Yuri Gagarin's flight
   At Cape Canaveral, to NASA employees
2. In Washington, for his inauguration
   At Rice University in Houston, to the general public

The "moon" speech is an example of the power of stirring oratory. Kennedy's speech, linking the Apollo project to the American spirit of ambition and exploration, went a long way to overcoming the near-60-percent opposition to a lunar mission. Needless to say, Kennedy didn't mention the projected $22 billion price tag.

1. Neil Armstrong
   Buzz Aldrin
2. Alan Bean
   Deke Slayton

Aldrin was a practicing Presbyterian and brought the elements for communion with him on the Apollo 11 mission. He later said that he had mixed feelings about conducting a specifically Christian ritual on the moon, as he and Armstrong were there to represent all of humanity, whatever their religion.

1. "That's ..."
   "God, ..."
2. "Houston, ..."
   "Whoopee!"

The whole quote is, "Whoopee! That may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me!" He was joking about being shorter than Armstrong, so it was a bigger step down off the ladder for Conrad.

1. 10 minutes
   An hour
2. A little more than two hours
   Six hours

Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the Sea of Tranquility and left the lunar module for a bit more than two hours. During this time, the pair collected soil samples for analysis back on Earth. They also took pictures and hit some golf balls—you know, the usual tourist stuff.

1. Alan Shepard
   John Glenn
2. Walter Schirra
   The first person in space was not American.

Yuri Gagarin, of the USSR, was the first human to escape the Earth's atmosphere in a spacecraft. This inflamed America's desire to explore space as well, matching the accomplishments of the Soviet Union, then our political and cultural rival. Alan Shepard was, however, the first American in space.

1. G
   J
2. O
   Z

An "A" mission was the launch of an unmanned vehicle; Apollo 4 and 6 were of this type. The most ambitious mission, the "J-type," involved a multi-day lunar orbit and lunar landing, and this was, in fact, achieved with the final mission, Apollo 17.

1. 500 miles
   1200 miles
2. 10,000 miles
   93 million miles

This doesn't sound like a great distance in the context of "all of outer space," but it's about the distance from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas. Most satellites operate in LEO, as does the International Space Station.

1. 1968
   1970
2. 1972
   1973

Project Apollo lasted for 12 years. Kennedy was still in office when the final mission flew; he would be assassinated the following year in Dallas, and the lunar missions would stand as a tribute to his sense of optimism and adventure.

1. John F. Kennedy
   Dwight D. Eisenhower
2. Richard M. Nixon
   Gerald R. Ford

Eisenhower was a well-liked former general of the Army, who was the Supreme Allied Commander of U.S. forces in World War II, managing Operation Overlord (better known as the D-Day invasion). John F. Kennedy gets a lot of credit for the Apollo missions, having stated explicitly the goal of putting a man on the moon, but he wasn't the first president involved with Apollo.