Hexus Mastermind #2 - Goobley - Space Exploration (& The Final Frontier)

[Galant]

HEXUS MASTERMIND #2 - Goobley

Commencement Time: Friday 27th 10AM

Chosen subject areas:

Primary: Space exploration history
Secondary: Star Trek: Voyager


Now accepting questions for Goobley on the above subjects. Questions are to be submitted to Galant via PM, please (don't post them here). Once the questions are gathered and commencement date arranged they will be posted in this thread for answering by the contestant. We're looking for 15 questions on the primary subject and 5 questions on the secondary subject. 3 'Personal angle' questions permitted on Primary, 1 'Personal Angle' question permitted on the secondary.

See the Sign Up Thread for full details.

Goobley, once the questions are posted here you will have 24 hours to answer them all below. All questions are to be answered from your own head only without reference to any outside sources. These Mastermind challenges are running on the honour system so please don't cheat!

Anyone wishing to sign-up to be a contestant in future editions, please sign-up in the thread in the Sticky section.

Cheers!

[Galant]

Anyone seen Goobley around? I've had no response to my PM.

Cheers,

G.

[Galant]

EDIT: No longer needed.

[Goobley]

Sorry, I'm here - just mildly buried in Gentoo at the moment.

I haven't received a PM, strange...

[Galant]

Hi! Just seen this. I've sent another PM. Cheers for getting in touch.

[Galant]

Okay - Goobley thread is due this Friday. Hexites, please review his chosen subjects and PM any questions to me as soon as possible. Cut off time will be 10pm BST on Thursday 26th.

Cheers!

[Galant]

HEXUS MASTERMIND #2 - Goobley

Commencement Time: Friday 27th June 10am.

Chosen subject areas:

Primary: Space exploration history
Secondary: Star Trek: Voyager

Goobley, you now have 24 hours to answer all questions below. All questions are to be answered from your own head only without reference to any outside sources. These Mastermind challenges are running on the honour system so please don't cheat!

Anyone wishing to sign-up to be a contestant in future editions, please sign-up in the thread in the Sticky section.


QUESTIONS

Q 01. Launched on 21 November 2000, the EO-1 features what cutting-edge technology capable of on-board science analysis, re-planning, robust execution, and model-based diagnostic?

Q 02. Until the advent of space travel, objects in the asteroid belt were merely pinpricks of light in even the largest telescopes, their shapes and terrain remaining a mystery. Several asteroids have now been visited by probes. Which was the first such probe and which two asteroids did it fly past?

Q 03. The dwarf planet Ceres and the asteroid 4 Vesta, two of the three largest asteroids, are targets of NASA's Dawn mission, launched in 2007. What was the name of the probe which achieved the first landing on an asteroid, in 2000?

Q 04. The earliest practical work on rocket engines designed for spaceflight occurred simultaneously during the early 20th century in three countries by three key scientists. Name the countries and the scientists.

Q 05. A technological feat, this beach ball-size wonder weighed 184 pounds (84 kilograms) and took 98 minutes to orbit Earth. What was it?

Q 06. What significant bureaucratic event took place July 29, 1958?

Q 07. Any pioneering work sees unexpected events and space exploration is the biggest frontier of all. At the dawn of human space exploration we have seen numerous 'firsts'. Provide the following for each of the 'firsts' (8/10 for a 'Correct' overall answer):

A - First Human in Space - Who and what happened on the return trip?
B - First Spacewalk - Who?
C - Becoming the first to leave the gravitational influence of the Earth, Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr. and William Anders achieved what other first during a six-day flight?
D - First Manned Moon Landing - Name the lunar module, the two chief astronauts and the major quote from each.
E - First Occupation of Space Station - Russia's achievement. Name the station and the length of stay before a tragic return trip would mean that no further missions would ever be sent to the station.
F - First Buggy on the Moon - Name one of the two drivers and the reason that the buggy never went as far from their lunar module as it could have done.
G - July 17, 1975: In a mission called the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, what first was achieved?
H - Carrying a crew of four— at the time the largest crew ever to be launched into space on a single vehicle - what 'first' took place in 1982?
I - On June 18, 1983, Sally K. Ride became the first American woman in space. However, preceding her by twenty years, who was the very first woman to go to space?
J - Bruce McCandless was the first to test what new technology?

Q 08. Holding the record for continuous occupation in space, what space station was home to Russian cosmonauts and for how long in the record setting longest stretch, yet to be surpassed?

Q 09. On April 25, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed. It took a few service missions to get it in the desired condition but is now one of humanity's leading eyes into the stars. The following are some of the more famous images captured by the Hubble allowing humanity to marvel at the wonders of space. State what each one depicts (All required for 'Correct' overall answer):

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H

Q 10. Designed to last only months but actually lasting years, which two rovers were deployed to opposite sides of Mars?

Q 11. What two-part probe went out to meet comet Tempel 1 and how did the it work?

Q 12. Travelling further into space than any other man-made objects and still going, in 1977 NASA launched which two craft, and, from what rare, natural event did they benefit permitting them to not only visit Saturn, Jupiter, Titan, Uranus and Neptune, and gain speed as they did so?

Q 13. The Earth's moon isn't the only moon to host a landing by human-built craft. Which other moon has received a visit, what was the mission to achieve it, what was the name of the European-built probe and what was surprising about what the probe found when it touched down?

Q 14. Can you name the following? (Both required for 'Correct' answer overall):

A -

B - (The station)

Q 15. The last lunar landing in an historic series of missions...



Name the module, the mission series and the name of the last man to leave a footprint on the moon.

Q 16. The Maquis were a resistance group some of whom ended up serving onboard Voyager. What was it the lead to the formation of the Maquis and who was the first Starfleet officer among them?

Q 17. Punching well above it's weight, what are the U.S.S Voyager's class and alpha-numeric designation, maximum speed, and what special design feature permits it to constantly exceed the warp five limit without polluting the space continuum?

Q 18. Coming from the future, following a trip to see Koroth, Janeway's shuttlecraft featured what two major modifications?

Q 19. What was the average life span of the Ocampa when the crew of Voyager first encountered them?

Q 20. How many siblings does Capt. Janeway have?

[Galant]

Goobley - you're on the clock!



Oh and just in case it isn't obvious - No-one else answer PLEASE!

[Goobley]

HEXUS MASTERMIND #2 - Goobley

Commencement Time: Friday 27th June 10am.

Chosen subject areas:

Primary: Space exploration history
Secondary: Star Trek: Voyager

Goobley, you now have 24 hours to answer all questions below. All questions are to be answered from your own head only without reference to any outside sources. These Mastermind challenges are running on the honour system so please don't cheat!

Anyone wishing to sign-up to be a contestant in future editions, please sign-up in the thread in the Sticky section.


QUESTIONS

Q 01. Launched on 21 November 2000, the EO-1 features what cutting-edge technology capable of on-board science analysis, re-planning, robust execution, and model-based diagnostic?

Pass

Q 02. Until the advent of space travel, objects in the asteroid belt were merely pinpricks of light in even the largest telescopes, their shapes and terrain remaining a mystery. Several asteroids have now been visited by probes. Which was the first such probe and which two asteroids did it fly past?

NASA's Galileo was the probe, have no idea of the asteroids.

Q 03. The dwarf planet Ceres and the asteroid 4 Vesta, two of the three largest asteroids, are targets of NASA's Dawn mission, launched in 2007. What was the name of the probe which achieved the first landing on an asteroid, in 2000?

Near Earth Asteroid Rendez-vous (NEAR) then some silly name that I can't remember

Q 04. The earliest practical work on rocket engines designed for spaceflight occurred simultaneously during the early 20th century in three countries by three key scientists. Name the countries and the scientists.

Hermann Oberth - born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire IIRC (?) worked mainly in Germany
Rob Goddard - American
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky - Russian

Q 05. A technological feat, this beach ball-size wonder weighed 184 pounds (84 kilograms) and took 98 minutes to orbit Earth. What was it?

Sputnik 1 - the first artificial satellite broadcasting a radio message of a series of beeps. (Name means: fellow voyagers)

Q 06. What significant bureaucratic event took place July 29, 1958?

Some knee-jerk reaction to sputnik from 1957 so... Creation of NASA (?)

Q 07. Any pioneering work sees unexpected events and space exploration is the biggest frontier of all. At the dawn of human space exploration we have seen numerous 'firsts'. Provide the following for each of the 'firsts' (8/10 for a 'Correct' overall answer):

A - First Human in Space - Who and what happened on the return trip? Yuri Gagarin, the re-entry and support modules didn't separate correctly.

B - First Spacewalk - Who? Leonov (Soviet)

C - Becoming the first to leave the gravitational influence of the Earth, Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr. and William Anders achieved what other first during a six-day flight? Saw the dark side of the moon

D - First Manned Moon Landing - Name the lunar module, the two chief astronauts and the major quote from each. Eagle, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin. Neil: That's one small step for man, a giant leap for mankind. Buzz: Something about devastation/desolation of the surface

E - First Occupation of Space Station - Russia's achievement. Name the station and the length of stay before a tragic return trip would mean that no further missions would ever be sent to the station. Salyut 1, stay: 2 weeks.

F - First Buggy on the Moon - Name one of the two drivers and the reason that the buggy never went as far from their lunar module as it could have done. Apollo 15, would have been driven by Irwin and the buggy had to remain close enough to the LEM so that the astronauts could walk back if something broke.

G - July 17, 1975: In a mission called the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, what first was achieved? First docking between soviet and american spacecraft, namely an Apollo CSM and Soyuz orbiter

H - Carrying a crew of four— at the time the largest crew ever to be launched into space on a single vehicle - what 'first' took place in 1982? Space Shuttle flight (Columbia)

I - On June 18, 1983, Sally K. Ride became the first American woman in space. However, preceding her by twenty years, who was the very first woman to go to space? Pass
J - Bruce McCandless was the first to test what new technology? NASA's space jetpack - manned maneuvering equipment/unit (?)

Q 08. Holding the record for continuous occupation in space, what space station was home to Russian cosmonauts and for how long in the record setting longest stretch, yet to be surpassed?
Mir, about 1.5 years

Q 09. On April 25, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed. It took a few service missions to get it in the desired condition but is now one of humanity's leading eyes into the stars. The following are some of the more famous images captured by the Hubble allowing humanity to marvel at the wonders of space. State what each one depicts (All required for 'Correct' overall answer):

A

B
C
D
E
Cat's eye nebula
F
G
Uranus
H

Q 10. Designed to last only months but actually lasting years, which two rovers were deployed to opposite sides of Mars?
Spirit and Opportunity

Q 11. What two-part probe went out to meet comet Tempel 1 and how did the it work?
Deep impact, the probe split in two at the comet and a small part of it impacted to collect data from the surface, which was transmitted back to earth via the orbitting section.

Q 12. Travelling further into space than any other man-made objects and still going, in 1977 NASA launched which two craft, and, from what rare, natural event did they benefit permitting them to not only visit Saturn, Jupiter, Titan, Uranus and Neptune, and gain speed as they did so?
Voyager 1 and 2, were able to use the positioning of the planets to perform multiple flybys or gravity assists on their way out of the solar system. The Voyager 2 flyby pattern only occurs about every 175 years. Gravity assists can be used to speed up or slow down depending if the angle of ejection is the same as the planet's prograde or not and is an effect due to conservation of angular momentum (momentum is taken from the planet).

Q 13. The Earth's moon isn't the only moon to host a landing by human-built craft. Which other moon has received a visit, what was the mission to achieve it, what was the name of the European-built probe and what was surprising about what the probe found when it touched down?
Titan, Saturn's largest moon, was landed on by the Huygens probe carried to Saturn by Cassini on the Cassini-Huygens mission. The probe found quite a lot of water.

Q 14. Can you name the following? (Both required for 'Correct' answer overall):

A -
Laika

B - (The station)
Mir

Q 15. The last lunar landing in an historic series of missions...




Name the module, the mission series and the name of the last man to leave a footprint on the moon.
Orion, Apollo (from 17)... pass on the names

Q 16. The Maquis were a resistance group some of whom ended up serving onboard Voyager. What was it the lead to the formation of the Maquis and who was the first Starfleet officer among them?
The Cardassian war from DS9 where planets were seized from the demilitarized zone. IIRC the first officer was the engineer Eddington from DS9.

Q 17. Punching well above it's weight, what are the U.S.S Voyager's class and alpha-numeric designation, maximum speed, and what special design feature permits it to constantly exceed the warp five limit without polluting the space continuum?
Intrepid Class, NCC-74656, Warp 9.975, some treknobabble about the nacelles folding upwards at warp.


Q 18. Coming from the future, following a trip to see Koroth, Janeway's shuttlecraft featured what two major modifications?
Transphasic torpedos and adaptive ablative armor - also a time machine... can't remember how that was explained though

Q 19. What was the average life span of the Ocampa when the crew of Voyager first encountered them?
Nine years (not clear if Earth years or otherwise).

Q 20. How many siblings does Capt. Janeway have?
One (?)

Got to dash out now, will be back this afternoon. Nice hard set of questions - had to guess more than I expected

[Goobley]

Gah Orion was the Apollo 16 LEM, can't remeber what 17 was though.

Thanks to Galant for organising the event and anyone who contributed

[Galant]

I'll score this fully later.

Oh, and Question 07 -H - I need you to be more specific.

G.

[Goobley]

I clearly don't have that question right then. I thought that 1982 WAS the first space shuttle flight in space but I do remember now that there was only two people on the first launch. Don't know what it could be so:
Q07H: Pass.

[Galant]

I clearly don't have that question right then. I thought that 1982 WAS the first space shuttle flight in space but I do remember now that there was only two people on the first launch. Don't know what it could be so:
Q07H: Pass.

Oh go on...have a guess! You just need to be more specific.

[Goobley]

Hmm... Okay it must be something they needed mission specialists for, so satellites as NASA was the only american launcher until after the Challenger Disaster. Given the era: Q07H: First non-governmental telecoms satellite launched by the shuttle.

[Galant]

Q 01. Launched on 21 November 2000, the EO-1 features what cutting-edge technology capable of on-board science analysis, re-planning, robust execution, and model-based diagnostic?

Pass

Incorrect. ASE Software - 'Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment' Software.

Q 02. Until the advent of space travel, objects in the asteroid belt were merely pinpricks of light in even the largest telescopes, their shapes and terrain remaining a mystery. Several asteroids have now been visited by probes. Which was the first such probe and which two asteroids did it fly past?
NASA's Galileo was the probe, have no idea of the asteroids.

Incorrect. Galileo was the probe, the asteroid were 951 Gaspra (1991) and 243 Ida (1993).

Q 03. The dwarf planet Ceres and the asteroid 4 Vesta, two of the three largest asteroids, are targets of NASA's Dawn mission, launched in 2007. What was the name of the probe which achieved the first landing on an asteroid, in 2000?
Near Earth Asteroid Rendez-vous (NEAR) then some silly name that I can't remember.

Incorrect - NEAR was right, the silly name was Shoemaker.

Q 04. The earliest practical work on rocket engines designed for spaceflight occurred simultaneously during the early 20th century in three countries by three key scientists. Name the countries and the scientists.
Hermann Oberth - born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire IIRC (?) worked mainly in Germany
Rob Goddard - American
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky - Russian

Correct - good going!

Q 05. A technological feat, this beach ball-size wonder weighed 184 pounds (84 kilograms) and took 98 minutes to orbit Earth. What was it?
Sputnik 1 - the first artificial satellite broadcasting a radio message of a series of beeps. (Name means: fellow voyagers)

Correct!

Q 06. What significant bureaucratic event took place July 29, 1958?
Some knee-jerk reaction to sputnik from 1957 so... Creation of NASA (?)

Correct! Just out of interest - do you know the name of the 'organisation' NASA replaced?

Q 07. Any pioneering work sees unexpected events and space exploration is the biggest frontier of all. At the dawn of human space exploration we have seen numerous 'firsts'. Provide the following for each of the 'firsts' (8/10 for a 'Correct' overall answer):
A - First Human in Space - Who and what happened on the return trip? Yuri Gagarin, the re-entry and support modules didn't separate correctly.

Correct! I would also have accepted that the Vostok 1 wasn't designed to land and so he had to be ejected out and parachute down.

B - First Spacewalk - Who? Leonov (Soviet)

Correct. Leonov, Alexei Leonov. Do you happen know what fun thing happened during his little outing?

C - Becoming the first to leave the gravitational influence of the Earth, Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr. and William Anders achieved what other first during a six-day flight? Saw the dark side of the moon.

Correct. I would also have accepted first manned orbital flight around the moon.

D - First Manned Moon Landing - Name the lunar module, the two chief astronauts and the major quote from each. Eagle, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin. Neil: That's one small step for man, a giant leap for mankind. Buzz: Something about devastation/desolation of the surface.

Almost. Incorrect. Buzz Aldrin's quote was, "Beautiful. Beautiful. Magnificent desolation."

E - First Occupation of Space Station - Russia's achievement. Name the station and the length of stay before a tragic return trip would mean that no further missions would ever be sent to the station. Salyut 1, stay: 2 weeks.

Almost. Incorrect. It was Salyut 1 but the stay was just over three weeks - I would have accepted 23 or 24 days since I've read both reported.

F - First Buggy on the Moon - Name one of the two drivers and the reason that the buggy never went as far from their lunar module as it could have done. Apollo 15, would have been driven by Irwin and the buggy had to remain close enough to the LEM so that the astronauts could walk back if something broke.

Correct! David Scott and James Irwin. They put 17 miles on the buggy.

G - July 17, 1975: In a mission called the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, what first was achieved? First docking between soviet and american spacecraft, namely an Apollo CSM and Soyuz orbiter.

Correct. Do you know what unpleasant experience befell the American crew when heading back, and the cause?

H - Carrying a crew of four— at the time the largest crew ever to be launched into space on a single vehicle - what 'first' took place in 1982? Space Shuttle flight (Columbia). First non-governmental telecoms satellite launched by the shuttle.

Correct. I was actually looking for the first operational flight of a space shuttle (all previous flights had been tests), however I've checked and you're right, it was also the first deployment of commercial satellites by a shuttle. Well done.

I - On June 18, 1983, Sally K. Ride became the first American woman in space. However, preceding her by twenty years, who was the very first woman to go to space? Pass

Incorrect. It was Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova. And doesn't that name just make you think of The Spy Who Loved Me?

J - Bruce McCandless was the first to test what new technology? NASA's space jetpack - manned maneuvering equipment/unit (?)

Correct! Thunderball anyone?

7/10 so incorrect overall.

Q 08. Holding the record for continuous occupation in space, what space station was home to Russian cosmonauts and for how long in the record setting longest stretch, yet to be surpassed?
Mir, about 1.5 years

....Go on, I'll give it to you. Just. The station was indeed Mir, and the record for an individual stay was set, and still stands, by Valeri Polyakov but the duration was 437 days which is closer to 1.2 years (1.5 years is 547 days - over a hundred days more). I would also have accepted the record for longest continually occupied space-station with Mir having a run of unbroken occupation from 5 September 1989 – 28 August 1999 - almost a decade.

Q 09. On April 25, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed. It took a few service missions to get it in the desired condition but is now one of humanity's leading eyes into the stars. The following are some of the more famous images captured by the Hubble allowing humanity to marvel at the wonders of space. State what each one depicts (All required for 'Correct' overall answer):

A

Incorrect. Messier 74. "Messier 74, also called NGC 628, is a stunning example of a "grand-design" spiral galaxy that is viewed by Earth observers nearly face-on. Its perfectly symmetrical spiral arms emanate from the central nucleus and are dotted with clusters of young blue stars and glowing pink regions of ionized hydrogen (hydrogen atoms that have lost their electrons). These regions of star formation show an excess of light at ultraviolet wavelengths. Tracing along the spiral arms are winding dust lanes that also begin very near the galaxy's nucleus and follow along the length of the spiral arms. M74 is located roughly 32 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Pisces, the Fish. It is the dominant member of a small group of about half a dozen galaxies, the M74 galaxy group. In its entirety, it is estimated that M74 is home to about 100 billion stars, making it slightly smaller than our Milky Way."

B

Incorrect. The Andromeda galaxy, or Messier 31. "A spiral galaxy like the Milky Way, Andromeda contains a concentrated bulge of matter in the middle, surrounded by a disk of gas, dust, and stars 260,000 light-years long, more than 2.5 times as long as the Milky Way. Though Andromeda contains approximately a trillion stars to the quarter to half a billion in the Milky Way, our galaxy is actually more massive, because it is thought to contain more dark matter. Amazingly, this stretch of stars, which in our sky appears about as long as the full moon and half as wide, lies 2.5 million light-years away, further than any star you can see with your eyes. Also known as M31, it is the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way - and it's moving closer every day. Andromeda's proximity will be deadly to our galaxy. The two galaxies are rushing closer to one another at about 70 miles per second (112 kilometers per second). Astronomers estimate that it will collide with the Milky Way in about 5 billion years. By that time, the sun will have swollen into a red giant and swallowed up the terrestrial planets, so Earth will have other things to worry about. Still, the fresh influx of dust should boost star formation in the new Milkomeda galaxy, and the Earthless sun may well leave the Milky Way for good. After a messy phase, where arms project crazily from the combined pair, the two should settle into a smooth elliptical galaxy."

C

Incorrect. The Antennae Galaxies. "The galaxies — also known as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 — are locked in a deadly embrace. Once normal, sedate spiral galaxies like the Milky Way, the pair have spent the past few hundred million years sparring with one another. This clash is so violent that stars have been ripped from their host galaxies to form a streaming arc between the two. In wide-field images of the pair the reason for their name becomes clear — far-flung stars and streamers of gas stretch out into space, creating long tidal tails reminiscent of antennae."

D

Incorrect. The Black Eye galaxy - Messier 64. "A collision of two galaxies has left a merged star system with an unusual appearance as well as bizarre internal motions. Messier 64 (M64) has a spectacular dark band of absorbing dust in front of the galaxy's bright nucleus, giving rise to its nicknames of the "Black Eye" or "Evil Eye" galaxy. Fine details of the dark band are revealed in this image of the central portion of M64 obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. M64 is well known among amateur astronomers because of its appearance in small telescopes. It was first cataloged in the 18th century by the French astronomer Messier. Located in the northern constellation Coma Berenices, M64 resides roughly 17 million light-years from Earth."

E
Cat's eye nebula

Correct! "Discovered in 1786, reveals a bull's eye pattern of at least eleven concentric rings around the nebula’s glowing nucleus, a dying Sun-like star. Each 'ring' represents a spherical layer of gas and dust ejected by the star, an event that occurs in 1,500-year intervals. Why this happens is unknown. Some astronomers think that the pulses may occur in sync with the star’s magnetic activity or with the gravitational pull of stars orbiting nearby."

F

Incorrect. The Sombrero galaxy. "The photo...reveals a flat disk of young, bright stars, orbiting around a glowing nucleus of more stars. A supermassive black hole lies in the center of the galaxy, which is located in the constellation Virgo."

G
Uranus

Correct! "Nobody even knew Uranus had rings until 1977, when a team of American astronomers observed the planet as it passed in front of a star. Hubble’s photographs of Uranus’ rings contributed to our knowledge of how many exist, 13 as of 2008. In this image, the rings appear as two spikes above and below the planet. Earthbound astronomers see the rings' edge only every 42 years as the planet follows an 84-year orbit about the Sun.

H

Incorrect. "V838 Monocerotis is a red supergiant star that mysteriously produces multiple flashes of light over time, illuminating different layers of the surrounding gas and dust. This phenomenon, known as a light echo, was first seen by Hubble and may represent a previously unknown, unstable phase in aging stars many times the mass of our sun."

You needed them all, for incorrect overall.

[Galant]

...Continued from above.

Q 10. Designed to last only months but actually lasting years, which two rovers were deployed to opposite sides of Mars?
Spirit and Opportunity

Correct.

Q 11. What two-part probe went out to meet comet Tempel 1 and how did the it work?
Deep impact, the probe split in two at the comet and a small part of it impacted to collect data from the surface, which was transmitted back to earth via the orbitting section.

Correct.

Q 12. Travelling further into space than any other man-made objects and still going, in 1977 NASA launched which two craft, and, from what rare, natural event did they benefit permitting them to not only visit Saturn, Jupiter, Titan, Uranus and Neptune, and gain speed as they did so?
Voyager 1 and 2, were able to use the positioning of the planets to perform multiple flybys or gravity assists on their way out of the solar system. The Voyager 2 flyby pattern only occurs about every 175 years. Gravity assists can be used to speed up or slow down depending if the angle of ejection is the same as the planet's prograde or not and is an effect due to conservation of angular momentum (momentum is taken from the planet).

Correct. They made use of a planetary alignment which only takes place once every 175 years.

Q 13. The Earth's moon isn't the only moon to host a landing by human-built craft. Which other moon has received a visit, what was the mission to achieve it, what was the name of the European-built probe and what was surprising about what the probe found when it touched down?
Titan, Saturn's largest moon, was landed on by the Huygens probe carried to Saturn by Cassini on the Cassini-Huygens mission. The probe found quite a lot of water.

Close! Incorrect, though, on the last point. You may have been thinking of the data on Enceladus, a different moon, sent by Cassini - "On April 3, 2014, NASA reported that evidence for a large underground ocean of liquid water on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, had been found by Cassini." With regards Huygens on Titan the big surprise was finding a hilly landscape with channels rather than a smooth surface. It was also expected to be quite soft, but seemed to be soft underneath with a sort of harder crust on top. "When you put all the data together, we get a very rich picture of Titan," says Athéna Coustenis, Observatoire de Paris, France, "The Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR) pictures were an enormous surprise. We had expected a much smoother landscape. "At the landing site we also saw rounded ice pebbles," says Jonathan Lunine, University of Arizona. The Surface Science Package (SSP) provided the final piece in this particular puzzle. The impact it detected when Huygens touched down indicated that the spacecraft had come to rest in compacted gravel. "Put it all together and it is clear that Huygens landed in an outflow wash," says Lunine. The Gas Chromatograph and Mass Spectrometer (GCMS) instrument confirmed the nature of the liquid that shapes the surface of Titan. It detected methane evaporating from the Huygens landing site. "Methane on Titan plays the role that water plays on Earth," concludes Lunine. But there are still mysteries. It is not yet clear whether the methane falls mostly as a steady drizzle or as an occasional deluge." http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Sp...rises_continue

Q 14. Can you name the following? (Both required for 'Correct' answer overall):

A -
Laika

Correct. Sadly she died when life support failed if not before.

B - (The station)
Mir

Correct. Correct overall.

Q 15. The last lunar landing in an historic series of missions...
Name the module, the mission series and the name of the last man to leave a footprint on the moon.
Orion, Apollo (from 17)... pass on the names

Incorrect. The module was Challenger, from the Apollo series (17 - correct!), and the last man to get back on-board was Eugene Cernan - the last man to walk on the moon!

Q 16. The Maquis were a resistance group some of whom ended up serving onboard Voyager. What was it the lead to the formation of the Maquis and who was the first Starfleet officer among them?
The Cardassian war from DS9 where planets were seized from the demilitarized zone. IIRC the first officer was the engineer Eddington from DS9.

Yes and no - so incorrect. The first officer was Commander Calvin 'Cal' Hudson, the first attache assigned to watch over the planets and exchange.

Q 17. Punching well above it's weight, what are the U.S.S Voyager's class and alpha-numeric designation, maximum speed, and what special design feature permits it to constantly exceed the warp five limit without polluting the space continuum?
Intrepid Class, NCC-74656, Warp 9.975, some treknobabble about the nacelles folding upwards at warp.

Correct!

Q 18. Coming from the future, following a trip to see Koroth, Janeway's shuttlecraft featured what two major modifications?
Transphasic torpedos and adaptive ablative armor - also a time machine... can't remember how that was explained though.

Correct. I was looking for the armour and the 'time-machine' the "chrono deflector".

Q 19. What was the average life span of the Ocampa when the crew of Voyager first encountered them?
Nine years (not clear if Earth years or otherwise).

Correct. Though I've no clue how they measured the years.

Q 20. How many siblings does Capt. Janeway have?
One (?)

Correct. One sister.


Total - 12/20 - but those were some tough ones! Nice going Goobley!.