What did NASA's DART mission do in 2022?

Changed an asteroid's orbit by crashing into it

What are Trojan asteroids?

Asteroids sharing Jupiter's orbit

Asteroids Quiz: Can You Get 8 Out of 10?

This asteroids quiz covers the asteroid belt, Ceres and Vesta, near-Earth asteroids, the impact that ended the dinosaurs, sample-return missions and NASA's DART test. Can you get 8 out of 10 on the rocky leftovers of the solar system?

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Belt
Where are most known asteroids found?
First
Which was the first asteroid discovered, in 1801?
Vesta
Which asteroid has a huge mountain about twice the height of Everest?
Dinosaurs
Which crater is linked to the dinosaur extinction?
DART
What did NASA's DART mission do in 2022?
Samples
Which mission returned samples from asteroid Bennu in 2023?
Japan
Which Japanese missions returned asteroid samples?
Moons
Which asteroid was found to have its own moon in 1993?
Day
Asteroid Day on June 30 marks which event?
Trojans
What are Trojan asteroids?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Where are most known asteroids found?
Answer: Between Mars and Jupiter
Jupiter's gravity kept them from forming a planet.
Q2: Which was the first asteroid discovered, in 1801?
Answer: Ceres
It is now a dwarf planet.
Q3: Which asteroid has a huge mountain about twice the height of Everest?
Answer: Vesta
Rheasilvia's central peak is about 22 km high.
Q4: Which crater is linked to the dinosaur extinction?
Answer: Chicxulub
It is in Mexico's Yucatán.
Q5: What did NASA's DART mission do in 2022?
Answer: Changed an asteroid's orbit by crashing into it
It hit the moonlet Dimorphos.
Q6: Which mission returned samples from asteroid Bennu in 2023?
Answer: OSIRIS-REx
The capsule landed in Utah.
Q7: Which Japanese missions returned asteroid samples?
Answer: Hayabusa and Hayabusa2
Hayabusa2 sampled Ryugu.
Q8: Which asteroid was found to have its own moon in 1993?
Answer: Ida
The moon is named Dactyl.
Q9: Asteroid Day on June 30 marks which event?
Answer: The 1908 Tunguska explosion
It flattened forests in Siberia.
Q10: What are Trojan asteroids?
Answer: Asteroids sharing Jupiter's orbit
Lucy launched in 2021 to visit them.

Asteroids Quiz – Rocky Leftovers

Asteroids are rocky and metallic leftovers from the solar system's formation. Most orbit in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, while others share Jupiter's orbit or cross Earth's path.

Asteroids range from tiny boulders to Ceres, about 940 kilometers across. Missions have visited many of them, revealing rubble piles, metal-rich bodies and even asteroids with moons. Samples returned by Hayabusa and OSIRIS-REx contain ancient materials, including building blocks of life.

Some asteroids pose a risk to Earth. The impact that formed the Chicxulub crater helped end the age of dinosaurs. Today astronomers track near-Earth asteroids, and the DART mission showed that a spacecraft can nudge an asteroid's orbit.

What This Quiz Teaches

This quiz is for space fans exploring asteroids.

Where asteroids are
Which was found first
What ended the dinosaurs
What DART did
Which missions returned samples

Did You Know?

The main belt's total mass is less than the Moon's.
Psyche may be metal-rich.
Apophis will pass close to Earth in 2029.
Some meteorites come from Vesta.
Asteroids are named by their discoverers.