Alan Shepard — Questions and answers

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What was the name of Alan Shepard's mission?

Choices

  1. Redstone Rocket
  2. Freedom 7 ✓
  3. Cape Canaveral
  4. Mercury Capsule

Answer: Freedom 7

From page 1

What was the special group Alan Shepard belonged to?

Choices

  1. The Space Pioneers
  2. The Military Pilots
  3. The Mercury Seven ✓
  4. The Project Mercury Team

Answer: The Mercury Seven

From page 2

How was Shepard's flight different from an orbital flight?

Choices

  1. It was much longer.
  2. It went around the Earth many times.
  3. It was a shorter arc into space and back, not encircling Earth. ✓
  4. It didn't involve any weightlessness.

Answer: It was a shorter arc into space and back, not encircling Earth.

From page 3

What special part of the Mercury capsule protected it from burning up when it came back to Earth?

Choices

  1. The fly-by-wire system
  2. The conical shape
  3. The heat shield ✓
  4. The cramped interior

Answer: The heat shield

From page 4

How did Alan Shepard wait for the launch despite the delays?

Choices

  1. He got out of his suit and took a break.
  2. He waited impatiently, complaining to launch control.
  3. He waited patiently for hours inside the capsule. ✓
  4. He went home and came back later.

Answer: He waited patiently for hours inside the capsule.

From page 5

Where did Alan Shepard's capsule land after his flight?

Choices

  1. In Cape Canaveral, Florida.
  2. On the deck of a waiting aircraft carrier.
  3. In the Atlantic Ocean. ✓
  4. In a desert far from any water.

Answer: In the Atlantic Ocean.

From page 8

What important thing did Alan Shepard prove astronauts could do during a mission?

Choices

  1. That astronauts could sleep soundly in space.
  2. That astronauts were just passengers and didn't need to do much.
  3. That astronauts could precisely control the capsule and provide feedback. ✓
  4. That astronauts only needed to look out the window.

Answer: That astronauts could precisely control the capsule and provide feedback.

From page 9

What bigger goal did Alan Shepard's flight help the United States work towards?

Choices

  1. Building bigger rockets for cargo.
  2. Meeting President Kennedy's challenge of landing a man on the Moon. ✓
  3. Making space travel faster for tourists.
  4. Sending robots to explore other planets.

Answer: Meeting President Kennedy's challenge of landing a man on the Moon.

From page 10