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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. As mission specialists, how many hours of flight time are required monthly?

2. Who crews the Columbia during the inagural space shuttle program launch?

3. When Joan and Vanessa look at Alpha Herculis or Rasalgethi, how many years in the past are they looking?

4. How high above the earth's atmosphere are Vanessa and Griff when they make their space walk?

5. Who does Joan realize is afraid but fighting it when they are on the vomit Comet learning to deal with weightlessness?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Vanessa share with Joan about her father?

2. What problems have to be resolved in order to get the shuttle back to earth?

3. What does Joan love about astronomy and the universe?

4. What inspires Joan to apply to NASA the first ime?

5. What is the first liftoff of a space shuttle like?

6. What does Vanessa ask Joan to help her with, and why does asking for help embarrass her?

7. Why does Joan play the piano after a long week of classes in the fall of 1980?

8. How is the weightlessness of space simulated, and how does Joan react?

9. Why does Vanessa think she cannot have a dog?

10. Why does Vanessa close her eyes as she prepares to enter the cabin?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Vanessa’s father taught her that there is a difference between bravery and courage. Based on what he taught Vanessa, what is the difference between bravery and courage?

Essay Topic 2

Joan, Vanessa, and the other women astronauts are in the second group of candidates that includes women. Why has it taken so long for women to become astronauts and what do their experiences reveal about women’s roles and the way those roles have evolved?

Essay Topic 3

The crisis on the shuttle requires certain qualities to deal with the emergency. What qualities does Vanessa have to draw on to deal with the crisis?

(see the answer keys)

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