Apollo Program Trivia | Dorky Geeky Nerdy Podcast #227

Dorky Geeky Nerdy Trivia

227 | Apollo Program Trivia

00:00 / 13:29

It’s time to reach for the stars. Or at least to the Moon with Apollo Program Trivia.

Hey crew, this week, we’re diving into the NASA program that sent the first humans to the Moon. With the Artemis Program now in full swing, I thought now would be a great time to look back at mankind’s first visit to our only natural satellite.

When you’re done with Apollo Program Trivia, check out our Astronomy Trivia episode. That was way back in Season One to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the first Moon Landing. Also, check out the other science episodes. We’ve got it all, right here.

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Episode Intro

It’s time to reach for the stars. Well, the moon, at least.

Hey crew, I’m your host, Brian Rollins, and this is episode 227 of the Dorky Geeky Nerdy Trivia Podcast. This week, we’ve got Apollo Program trivia. Thirty questions about the NASA program to a man on the Moon and safely return him to the Earth.

If this is your cup of Tang, be sure to check out the Astronomy trivia episode way back in Season One that we did in honor of the 50^th anniversary of the 1^st Moon landing. You can find it (and all our past episodes) at DorkyGeekyNerdy.com.

That covers our usual business, so let’s launch this show.

The Dorky Round

What was the first lunar mission to land on the Moon?
a. Apollo 11
Who was the first human to step onto the Moon?
a. Neil Armstrong
Who was the second human to step onto the Moon?
a. Buzz Aldrin
What 2019 TV series gave us an alternate history version of the Apollo missions?
a. For All Mankind. In it, the Soviets beat the US to the Moon, thus altering the Space Race for decades.
What US President kicked off the race to the Moon with a speech in 1961?
a. John F Kennedy
In 1975, an Apollo capsule was used to dock with what Soviet spacecraft?
a. Soyuz
What rocket launched the Apollo missions into space?
a. The Saturn V rocket
Which Apollo mission had a severe problem with one of its oxygen tanks enroute to the Moon?
a. Apollo 13.
Who was President when Apollo 11 landed on the Moon?
a. Richard Nixon
What animal can be found on the Apollo 11 mission patch?
a. An eagle

The Geeky Round

What was the final Apollo mission?
a. Apollo 17
Starting November 16, 2022, what NASA program succeeded the Apollo program?
a. The Artemis Program.
Apollo 15 was the first to use an LRV. What’s the LRV?
a. Lunar Rover Vehicle. It allowed astronauts to drive around the Moon at up to 8mph.
Which was the first manned Apollo mission?
a. Apollo 7. Walter Schirra, R. Walter Cunningham, and Donn Eisele made the first live televised broadcast from space during the mission.
Apollo 11’s lander was named The Eagle. What was the command module called?
a. Columbia. It’s off display now but will be brought back to the Air & Space Museum in Washington DC soon.
What is the technical term for Moon dust?
a. Lunar regolith
Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee were members of which Apollo crew?
a. Apollo 1. All three would die in an accident while testing the command module.
Who was the backup commander for Apollo 11? Hint: He was the commander for Apollo 13.
a. Jim Lovell
Dr. Harrison H. Schmitt, a member of the Apollo 17 crew, was the first NASA astronaut-scientist. What was his specialty?
a. Geology
All told, how many men have walked on the Moon with the Apollo program?
a. 12. Two from each of the six successful landings.

The Nerdy Round

What experiment, left on the Moon by Apollos 11, 14, and 15, is still running?
a. The Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflector. It allows scientists to accurately measure the distance to the Moon at regular intervals.
What happened to Apollo 12 at 36 and 52 seconds after liftoff?
a. It was struck by lightning.
The unmanned Apollo 6 was a bit of a mess on its launch April 4, 1968. It received very little press coverage because what else happened that day?
a. Martin Luther King, Jr was assassinated.
Which Apollo mission got NASA sued for 1st Amendment violations?
a. Apollo 8. Madalyn Murray O’Hair sued NASA because the astronauts read from the Book of Genesis. The case was dismissed.
The American flags placed on the moon came from which department store?
a. Sears. Unlike a lot of things NASA uses, these are just store-bought flags.
As of 2023, who is the last person to walk on the Moon?
a. Gene Cernan. He passed away in 2017 and often remarked how he hated being the last person to walk on the lunar surface.
What WW2-era aircraft carrier retrieved the Apollo 11 crew from the Pacific Ocean?
a. The USS Hornet. The ship was retired and is now a museum in Alameda, CA
How many Apollo missions were initially planned?
a. Twenty. The last three never happened. At least one Saturn V rocket was repurposed to fly up Skylab
I mentioned Apollo 11’s Columbia, which other command module shares a name with a Space Shuttle?
a. Apollo 15’s command module, Endeavour.
When Kennedy gave his famous “moon shot” speech in 1961, how many people had actually been into space?
a. Just two. Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard

Episode Conclusion

And that’s splashdown. Everyone make it back OK? With the new Artemis program underway, I’ve noticed an uptick in interest in Apollo. I was born 3 years after the last Apollo mission, so I’m extra excited to see humans go back to the Moon in my lifetime. Any old-timers out there can send me feedback on what it was like to see these live.

I’ll be back here next week with another episode. Here’s a quick clue:

Who is the second-most nominated person for Academy Awards after Walt Disney?

It’ll come to you. Don’t worry. They’ve been mentioned numerous times on the show. See you back here next Wednesday.

This was episode 227 of the Dorky Geeky Nerdy Trivia Podcast.

The music is by Jason Shaw at Audionautix.com.

The podcast was written, produced, and hosted by me, Brian Rollins. Come find me at TheVoicesInMyHead.com.

Thanks for listening.