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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Sagan suggests that the image of the "pale blue dot" teaches the need for what?
(a) Space exploration.
(b) Peace.
(c) Science education.
(d) Kindness.

2. According to Sagan, how do early Earth and Titan compare?
(a) They are only vaguely related.
(b) They are totally different.
(c) They are almost exactly the same.
(d) They are similar.

3. When probes enter the atmospheres of other planets, what color do they often see the sky to be?
(a) Yellow.
(b) Blue.
(c) Red.
(d) Black.

4. William Herschel, the discoverer of Uranus, had what unusual profession?
(a) Poet.
(b) Musician.
(c) Actor.
(d) Magician.

5. What does Sagan suggest that cavemen were usually looking for when they wandered?
(a) Food.
(b) New territory.
(c) Shelter.
(d) Mates.

6. According to Sagan, when viewed from space, how apparent would the existence of life on Earth be?
(a) Impossible to discern.
(b) Ambiguous.
(c) Obvious.
(d) Difficult to discern.

7. Which of the following is a major point opponents of space exploration raise?
(a) The problems on Earth should be solved first.
(b) Space exploration exists for national prestige only.
(c) There is nothing of value anywhere else in the solar system.
(d) No good has ever come of space exploration.

8. What space probe was an important part of Sagan's career, and passed by a major planet in 1976?
(a) Viking.
(b) Tesla.
(c) Ion.
(d) Newton.

9. Where does Neptune fall in the mission plan for the Voyager probes?
(a) They will go into decaying orbit around it.
(b) They will pass by it only at an immense distance
(c) It is their final planetary destination.
(d) They will return to the inner solar system after passing it.

10. Sagan believes that Titan hosts oceans made of what compound?
(a) Saturated salts.
(b) Methane.
(c) Water.
(d) Hydrocarbons.

11. What criticism does Sagan make of NASA in Chapter 6, "The Triumph of Voyager"?
(a) It is essentially incompetent.
(b) It cannot correct its mistakes.
(c) It has made many engineering mistakes.
(d) It is unconcerned with human safety in spaceflight.

12. Which of the following does Sagan NOT cite as evidence for the age of the universe?
(a) Impact craters.
(b) Telemetric spectrometry.
(c) Star evolution.
(d) Radioactive dating.

13. What is the constituent particle of light?
(a) The neutrino.
(b) The neutron.
(c) The electron.
(d) The photon.

14. Conditions of what type were extremely important in the creation of early life on Earth?
(a) Geological.
(b) Aquatic.
(c) Atmospheric.
(d) Littoral.

15. Earth will most likely lose contact with the Voyager probes when what happens?
(a) Their radio transmitters die.
(b) They reach the Kuiper belt.
(c) They pass the troposphere.
(d) Their solar cells die.

Short Answer Questions

1. What astronomical discovery did Galileo make that significantly damaged the geocentric theory?

2. Many of organic molecules arrived on Earth from what source?

3. Who helped Sagan calculate that Titan should be host to oceans?

4. What scientist is well-known for writing about the differences between species of animals?

5. Which planet was Voyager 2 intended to visit first?

(see the answer keys)

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