Correct: C. Pinta

Pinta was the ship from which a sailor first sighted land during Columbus's 1492 Atlantic voyage. The sighting occurred early on October 12 and marked the expedition's arrival in the Bahamas. Columbus's fleet consisted of three vessels that had departed Spain nearly ten weeks earlier.

Correct: C. About 90

Columbus's three-ship fleet had approximately 90 crew members when it reached the Bahamas in October 1492. The expedition had begun its Atlantic crossing from Palos, Spain, nearly ten weeks earlier.

Correct: B. Fort Clatsop

The Corps of Discovery spent the winter of 1805–1806 at Fort Clatsop near the mouth of the Columbia River. The explorers constructed the fort after reaching the Pacific region and determining that winter travel back across the mountains was impractical. They named the fort after the local Clatsop people.

Correct: A. Australia

Endeavour struck the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of present-day Australia during Cook's first Pacific voyage. The collision caused serious damage, and the crew worked urgently to prevent the vessel from sinking before repairs could be made.

Correct: B. Elephant Island

Shackleton's stranded party reached Elephant Island in April 1916 after escaping the pack ice in lifeboats. Because the isolated island offered little hope of outside rescue, Shackleton decided to seek help from South Georgia.

Correct: C. 800 miles

Shackleton and five companions planned to sail approximately 800 miles from Elephant Island to South Georgia in the James Caird. They undertook the dangerous open-boat journey because whaling stations on South Georgia offered their best hope of obtaining rescue.

Correct: C. Seven

Zheng He commanded seven major maritime expeditions during the early Ming dynasty. Beginning in 1405, his large fleets travelled through Southeast Asia and across the Indian Ocean on diplomatic and commercial missions.

Correct: A. East coast of Africa

Zheng He's fleets travelled as far west as the eastern coast of Africa. The Ming expeditions crossed the Indian Ocean and reached ports in regions including Arabia and East Africa.

Correct: C. William Anders

William Anders took the famous Earthrise photograph during Apollo 8's lunar orbit on December 24, 1968. The image showed Earth appearing above the Moon's horizon and became one of the most influential photographs of the space age.

Correct: B. Voyager 1

Voyager 1 became the first human-made object to enter interstellar space. NASA determined that it crossed the heliopause on August 25, 2012, leaving the Sun's protective bubble of charged particles.

Correct: B. 16-Jul-69

Apollo 11 launched toward the Moon on July 16, 1969. A Saturn V rocket lifted Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.

Correct: C. Three

John Glenn completed three orbits of Earth during the Friendship 7 mission. The successful Mercury-Atlas 6 flight demonstrated that the United States could safely conduct crewed orbital missions.

Correct: B. Gemini IV

Gemini IV included the first American spacewalk. Astronaut Ed White exited the Gemini spacecraft on June 3, 1965, while James McDivitt remained inside as command pilot.

Correct: C. About 23 minutes

Ed White's first American spacewalk lasted approximately 23 minutes. He initially maneuvered with a hand-held gas gun and later used his body movements and tether after its fuel was exhausted.

Correct: B. Voyager 2

Voyager 2 made the first close-range exploration of Uranus in January 1986. During the encounter it examined the planet, rings, magnetic environment, and moons in unprecedented detail.

Correct: A. A planetary alignment

A rare alignment of the outer planets made Voyager 2's multi-planet journey practical. Gravity assists at each giant planet redirected and accelerated the spacecraft toward its next destination.

Correct: B. Cassini

The Cassini spacecraft carried the European Space Agency's Huygens probe to the Saturn system. Huygens separated from Cassini in December 2004 and descended through Titan's atmosphere the following month.

Correct: B. Most distant landing from Earth

Huygens established the record for the most distant landing from Earth when it reached Titan in 2005. The probe had travelled with Cassini through interplanetary space before separating and descending to the moon's surface.

Correct: C. 2006

New Horizons was launched toward Pluto in 2006. It departed Cape Canaveral on January 19 aboard an Atlas V rocket and then used a Jupiter gravity assist during its long journey outward.

Correct: B. 14-Jul-15

New Horizons made its historic closest approach to Pluto on July 14, 2015. The spacecraft collected images and scientific measurements while passing rapidly through the Pluto system. This encounter provided humanity's first detailed close-up exploration of the dwarf planet.

Correct: B. Ares Vallis

Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner landed in Ares Vallis on July 4, 1997. The site was selected partly because flood processes were expected to have deposited a variety of rocks within reach of the lander and rover.

Correct: A. 20-Jul-76

Viking 1 landed successfully on Mars on July 20, 1976. The landing occurred in Chryse Planitia after the orbiter had surveyed possible landing sites.

Correct: A. Sky crane

Curiosity was lowered to the Martian surface by an innovative sky-crane system. A rocket-powered descent stage hovered above the surface and lowered the rover on cables before flying away after touchdown.

Correct: A. Mount Sharp

Mount Sharp rises from the center of Gale Crater and became a major exploration target for Curiosity. Its layered rocks preserve evidence about changing Martian environments over immense spans of time.

Correct: C. Five

Five men formed Robert Falcon Scott's final party at the South Pole. They were Scott, Edward Wilson, Henry Bowers, Lawrence Oates, and Edgar Evans.

Correct: B. Two

Robert Falcon Scott led two major Antarctic expeditions. His first was the Discovery Expedition of 1901-1904, and his second was the Terra Nova Expedition beginning in 1910.

Correct: A. Discovery

Discovery was the ship used for Robert Falcon Scott's first Antarctic expedition from 1901 to 1904. The vessel had been specially constructed as a research ship capable of working in icy seas. The expedition conducted important geographical, zoological, and geological investigations in Antarctica.

Correct: C. About 1,300 miles

The Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail extends approximately 1,300 miles. It follows the historic route from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake in Utah across five states.

Correct: B. Winter Quarters

Winter Quarters on the Nebraska side of the Missouri River served as a major stopping point for Mormon pioneers during the winter of 1846–1847. Difficult conditions during the first stage of migration made it necessary to postpone the journey to the Great Basin. The settlement became the staging point for Brigham Young's 1847 vanguard company.

Correct: A. Chimney Rock

The Mormon pioneer company passed Chimney Rock on May 26, 1847. The distinctive formation in present-day Nebraska was a major landmark for travellers on several western emigrant routes.

Correct: B. South Pass

The Mormon pioneers crossed South Pass on June 27, 1847. This broad pass through the Rocky Mountains provided an important crossing of the Continental Divide for nineteenth-century overland travellers.

Correct: B. Independence

The Bidwell-Bartleson Party gathered near Independence, Missouri, before beginning its 1841 journey west. Independence became an important starting area for several major nineteenth-century overland trails.

Correct: C. 250,000

More than 250,000 emigrants travelled toward California's gold fields and rich farmlands during the 1840s and 1850s. This massive movement turned the California Trail into one of the most important migration routes in American history.

Correct: A. Rihla

Ibn Battuta's famous travel account is commonly known as the Rihla. The Arabic word rihla means journey, while the work's full title is considerably longer and describes the marvels encountered during travel.

Correct: C. Almost 30 years

Ibn Battuta's journeys lasted almost 30 years. During that period he travelled throughout North Africa, the Middle East, Central and South Asia, parts of Europe, Southeast Asia, and China.

Correct: B. 1405–1433

Zheng He's seven famous maritime expeditions took place between 1405 and 1433 during China's Ming dynasty. His fleets traveled throughout Southeast Asia and across the Indian Ocean to distant ports. The expeditions combined diplomatic, commercial, and political objectives on an extraordinary scale.

Correct: A. 2-Mar-72

Pioneer 10 was launched on March 2, 1972. Its primary mission was to travel through the asteroid belt and perform the first close reconnaissance of Jupiter.

Correct: C. 2003

The last signal received from Pioneer 10 reached Earth in 2003. NASA's Deep Space Network detected the extremely weak transmission on January 23, but later attempts failed to recover another signal.

Correct: C. 21 months

Pioneer 10 travelled for approximately 21 months before reaching Jupiter in late 1973. Its route took it through the asteroid belt and into a region no previous spacecraft had explored at close range.

Correct: A. 14-Jul-65

Mariner 4 made its historic Mars flyby on July 14, 1965. The spacecraft passed approximately 6,118 miles from the planet while taking photographs and scientific measurements.

Correct: C. 22

Mariner 4 recorded 22 photographic image frames during its Mars encounter, with 21 complete images and part of a twenty-second returned to Earth. These became the first close-range photographs ever obtained of another planet.

Correct: A. 28-Nov-64

Mariner 4 launched toward Mars on November 28, 1964. The spacecraft spent nearly eight months travelling through interplanetary space before its July 1965 encounter.

Correct: A. 7-Dec-95

Galileo entered orbit around Jupiter on December 7, 1995. Arrival made it the first spacecraft to orbit the giant planet and began an extended investigation of Jupiter and its major moons.

Correct: C. It was deliberately sent into Jupiter

Galileo was deliberately sent into Jupiter at the end of its mission in September 2003. NASA chose this disposal method to prevent the spacecraft from accidentally contaminating Europa or another potentially habitable moon after its propellant became depleted.

Correct: B. Magellan

Magellan became the first deep-space planetary probe launched from a Space Shuttle. The Venus-bound spacecraft was deployed from Atlantis in May 1989 and then used an upper stage to begin its interplanetary journey.

Correct: B. Atlantis

Space Shuttle Atlantis deployed Magellan during the STS-30 mission in May 1989. After deployment, an upper-stage rocket sent the probe on its trajectory toward Venus.

Correct: B. 10-Aug-90

Magellan entered orbit around Venus on August 10, 1990. Once in orbit, the spacecraft began systematic radar mapping of the planet's cloud-covered surface.

Correct: A. Synthetic aperture radar

Magellan used synthetic aperture radar to map the surface of Venus through the planet's thick cloud cover. Radar waves can penetrate clouds that block ordinary visible-light cameras and can reveal details of surface topography and texture.

Correct: C. It was deliberately sent into Venus's atmosphere

Magellan was deliberately sent into Venus's atmosphere at the end of its mission in October 1994. Controllers lowered its orbit so that the spacecraft entered the atmosphere and was destroyed after completing its scientific program.

Correct: B. William John Wills

William John Wills served as the expedition's surveyor, astronomer, and second-in-command. His technical responsibilities were crucial for recording positions and observations during the journey across inland Australia.

Correct: A. John King

John King was the sole survivor of the four-man party that travelled north from Cooper Creek. Charles Gray died during the return journey, and Burke and Wills later died after reaching the depot area.

Correct: A. Yandruwandha

The Yandruwandha people cared for John King after Burke and Wills died near Cooper Creek. Their knowledge of the region and ability to obtain food allowed King to survive when the European explorers' own provisions and strategies had failed. He remained with them until a relief expedition arrived.