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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was the temperature the morning of the launch of the Challenger shuttle?
(a) 53 degrees.
(b) 19 degrees.
(c) 29 degrees.
(d) 35 degrees.

2. Who was the leader of the accident analysis group of the commission?
(a) Mr. Acheson.
(b) Dr. Ride.
(c) General Kutyna.
(d) Mr. Sutter.

3. Whose idea was it to put a teacher into space?
(a) Thiokol.
(b) NASA.
(c) Caltech.
(d) The president of the United States.

4. What was the name of the rule that General Kutyna informs Richard about?
(a) Watch three.
(b) Fire twelve.
(c) Hold nine.
(d) Check six.

5. What temperature did the Thiokol engineers tell NASA the shuttle shouldn't fly below?
(a) 92 degrees.
(b) 35 degrees.
(c) 53 degrees.
(d) 29 degrees.

Short Answer Questions

1. After the meeting that the commission attended when they first arrived in Florida finished, where did they go next?

2. Who headed the design, development, and production panel of the commission?

3. Mr. Ullian calculated how much of a chance of failure?

4. What was the probability of failure figure that NASA told Mr. Ullian?

5. What job did the head of the investigation commission have that made Richard feel sorry for him?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Mr. Rogers say to members of the commission about being careful with "these people, whose careers depend on us"?

2. Why did Richard decide it would be a good idea to fly to Washington on Tuesday even though he wasn't needed for the first meeting with the commission until Wednesday?

3. Which two groups did Richard spend his time helping, and which group was the one that he helped the most during the investigation?

4. Why are the brakes on the shuttle controlled by the computers instead of the astronauts?

5. If a section of the shuttle needed to be reshaped a little bit and the hanging method had already been used, what method would then be used?

6. The shuttle's computers don't have enough memory to hold all the programs for the whole flight, so what has to happen?

7. What was the rumor as to why NASA tried to make the shuttle fly in spite of the cold?

8. What did the JPL engineers tell Richard that some of the people that worked on the engines always did on each flight?

9. What was the main thing Richard said he learned during the first official meeting of the commission?

10. How did General Kutyna describe the "check six" rule to Richard?

(see the answer keys)

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