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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Sagan, what was the major advantage of the attitude of the government towards the Apollo project?
(a) There was plenty of funding for space.
(b) Computers advanced in power rapidly.
(c) Rocket science progressed quickly.
(d) New propulsion systems were developed.

2. Why does Sagan say that Mars is a more desirable target for human exploration than the moon?
(a) It has more to teach.
(b) It is more inhabitable.
(c) It has more resources.
(d) It is more like Earth.

3. What happens to the number of asteroids and comets in the solar system as time goes on?
(a) It increases.
(b) It diminishes.
(c) Its change is unknown.
(d) It remains about the same.

4. Sagan cautions that the beliefs he endorses could lead to an overabundance of what?
(a) Technology.
(b) Pride.
(c) Confidence.
(d) Population.

5. What process would be critical to terraforming Mars?
(a) The greenhouse cycle.
(b) Oxidation.
(c) Ozone catalyzing.
(d) The Turing effect.

6. What did Steven Hawking worry about with regard to black holes?
(a) That they could migrate into the solar system.
(b) That they were growing larger with time.
(c) That there were varied types of them.
(d) That they could tear space-time.

7. What does Sagan believe about weapons of mass destruction?
(a) They are a necessary evil.
(b) They must be destroyed.
(c) They should be tightly controlled.
(d) They must never used in anger.

8. What is the farthest orbital location that humans have ventured to since the last time men went to the moon?
(a) High Earth orbit.
(b) Parking orbit.
(c) Low Earth orbit.
(d) Geosynchronous orbit.

9. Where does Sagan think it is most likely that life will be found on Mars?
(a) In the ice at the poles.
(b) In the subsurface rock.
(c) In salt caverns.
(d) On the surface.

10. Sagan says that the moon was once understood as a symbol of which of the following?
(a) Prosperity.
(b) The unattainable.
(c) Fertility.
(d) Madness.

11. Sagan says that the dark matter that surrounds the Milky Way galaxy takes what shape?
(a) A halo.
(b) A disk.
(c) A sphere.
(d) A column.

12. What type of asteroids does Sagan suggest that men might be able to live inside of?
(a) Ice asteroids.
(b) Carbon asteroids.
(c) Silicon asteroids.
(d) Short-period asteroids.

13. What does Martian soil seem to contain?
(a) Organic material.
(b) Ice.
(c) Methane.
(d) Oil.

14. In what year did humans visit the moon for the last time?
(a) 1972.
(b) 1979.
(c) 1975.
(d) 1969.

15. How does Sagan characterize most of the benefits gleaned from the space programs of the 60s and 70s?
(a) They were underestimated.
(b) They were unexpected.
(c) They were relatively unimportant.
(d) They were intangible.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the shape of the galaxy closest to the Milky Way?

2. About how many channels does SETI search for signs of extraterrestrial communication on?

3. What was the major result of the Cretaceous-Tertiary Collision?

4. What moon was found to have volcanoes?

5. When did NASA's SETI program go online?

(see the answer keys)

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