The Space Race Quiz

Ten questions on the Cold War contest that put satellites, animals and people into orbit and Americans on the Moon. Each answer comes with a short explanation.

10 questions
About 3 minutes
Medium

Buzz Aldrin standing on the Moon in his white spacesuit during the Apollo 11 mission, July 1969 — Buzz Aldrin on the Moon, July 1969. Photo: Neil Armstrong, NASA, public domain.

About this quiz

The Space Race began with the launch of Sputnik in 1957 and ran into the 1970s, with the Soviet Union and the United States trading firsts in orbit. The Soviets launched the first satellite, the first animal to orbit the Earth and the first man and woman in space. The Americans put the first people on the Moon.

The quiz covers the rockets, the people and the moments that made the rivalry one of the best-known chapters of the Cold War. Several questions test stories that most people have heard but few know the full version of.

Topics in this quiz

Sputnik

Read up first

Encyclopedia Sputnik Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, opening the Space Age.
Encyclopedia Yuri Gagarin Yuri Gagarin was a Soviet cosmonaut who became the first human in space on April 12, 1961, orbiting Earth once aboard Vostok 1.

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