NASA's Artemis I Mission: Uncrewed Flight Test Quiz

All Questions in This Quiz

Here is every question waiting for you in this 10-question space quiz. Play it in the interactive player above to lock in your answers, see your score and read the explanations.

1. What was the primary goal of NASA's Artemis I mission?

   • A. To land astronauts on the Moon
   • B. To test the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft on an uncrewed flight
   • C. To place a crew aboard the lunar Gateway station
   • D. To return samples from the lunar south pole

2. Which rocket launched the Artemis I mission?

   • A. SpaceX Falcon Heavy
   • B. Space Launch System (SLS)
   • C. United Launch Alliance Atlas V
   • D. Blue Origin New Glenn

3. Which spacecraft flew around the Moon on the Artemis I mission?

   • A. Apollo
   • B. Orion
   • C. Dragon
   • D. Starliner

4. About how long did the Artemis I mission last from launch to splashdown?

   • A. About 8 days
   • B. About 25 days
   • C. About 3 months
   • D. About 6 weeks

5. Why did Orion fly in a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon?

   • A. To land instruments on the lunar surface
   • B. To rendezvous with the Gateway station
   • C. To fly close enough to photograph the far side in high resolution
   • D. Because it is a highly stable orbit requiring little propellant, ideal for a long systems test

6. Roughly how far from Earth did Orion travel at its most distant point during Artemis I?

   • A. About 240,000 miles (386,000 kilometres)
   • B. About 270,000 miles (432,000 kilometres)
   • C. About 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometres)
   • D. About 93 million miles (150 million kilometres)

7. Besides Orion itself, what secondary payloads did the Artemis I launch carry?

   • A. Ten CubeSat smallsats deployed after translunar injection
   • B. A pressurised lunar rover
   • C. A robotic sample-return lander
   • D. A crew of four astronauts

8. How did the Artemis I mission end?

   • A. Orion was expended and burned up during re-entry
   • B. Orion re-entered at roughly 25,000 mph and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off Baja California
   • C. Orion landed on a runway at Kennedy Space Center
   • D. Orion remained in lunar orbit as a permanent relay satellite

9. When did the Artemis I mission launch?

   • A. November 2022
   • B. December 2021
   • C. March 2023
   • D. July 2024

10. What is the stated long-term goal of NASA's Artemis programme?

    • A. To fly a single crewed flyby of the Moon and then end the programme
    • B. To establish a sustainable, long-term human presence at the Moon as a stepping stone to deeper space exploration
    • C. To replace all crewed spaceflight with robotic probes
    • D. To build a permanent staffed base on the surface of Mars by 2030