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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

4. Sagan worries about how societies of what type would handle the technology that could stop Earth-bound asteroids?
(a) Liberal.
(b) Progressive.
(c) Totalitarian.
(d) Socialist.

5. Which of the following is one of the moons of Mars?
(a) Hecuba.
(b) Phobos.
(c) Gilgamesh.
(d) Orpheus.

6. When does Sagan think that the human race will be "on its way"?
(a) When we reach another star.
(b) When we make contact with another intelligent species.
(c) When we begin colonizing other planets.
(d) When we begin living in space.

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

8. What country does Sagan believe is best suited for undertaking a terraforming effort?
(a) China.
(b) Japan.
(c) The European Union.
(d) The United States.

9. According to Sagan, how profitable is it for a nation to invest in space exploration?
(a) It has great benefits in a limited scope.
(b) It has high costs.
(c) It is highly profitable.
(d) It is not related to a nation's welfare.

10. What does Sagan say the rings of Saturn composed of?
(a) Chunks of destroyed planets.
(b) Frozen methane clouds.
(c) Discs of stone.
(d) Tiny ice worlds.

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

12. What type of missions does Sagan recommend in order to prepare to deal with Earth-bound asteroids?
(a) Extra-planetary manned missions.
(b) Asteroid landings.
(c) Meteor landings.
(d) Spacewalks.

13. What was the name of the second mission that sent probes into the atmosphere of Venus?
(a) Kepler.
(b) Hubble.
(c) Brahe.
(d) Mariner.

14. When was Venus first explored by a space probe?
(a) 1970.
(b) 1980.
(c) 1961.
(d) 1950.

15. What was the major result of the Cretaceous-Tertiary Collision?
(a) An ice age.
(b) Mass extinction.
(c) Environmental shifts.
(d) The destruction of most plant life on the Earth.

Short Answer Questions

1. What planet is the "evening star"?

2. What type of Mars mission did President Reagan turn down?

3. When did a "disrupted" comet famously fall into Jupiter?

4. About how large a percentage of the mass of the total universe does dark matter make up?

5. When does Sagan predict that anti-matter will be mass-manufactured?

(see the answer keys)

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