Question 1

True or false: Apollo 16 astronauts planted the first American flag on the Moon during their mission.

Accepted Answer

False. The first flag was planted during Apollo 11 in 1969. Apollo 16 planted the fifth flag, but it wasn't the first.

Question 2

True or false: The Apollo 16 lunar module was named 'Snoopy' after the comic strip beagle.

Accepted Answer

False. The lunar module was named 'Orion'; 'Snoopy' was the Apollo 10 lunar module. This is a common mix-up.

Question 3

True or false: Commander John Young became the ninth person to walk on the Moon during Apollo 16.

Accepted Answer

True. John Young, a veteran of Apollo 10, stepped onto the Moon on April 21, 1972, as the ninth human to do so.

Question 4

True or false: The Apollo 16 crew brought back a piece of the Moon that was later found to contain water ice.

Accepted Answer

False. No water ice was found in Apollo 16 samples. Lunar ice is primarily in polar shadowed regions, not in returned rocks. Trace water was later detected in some Apollo samples, but not as ice.

Question 5

True or false: The Apollo 16 mission was the first to land in the lunar highlands instead of a mare.

Accepted Answer

False. Apollo 14 landed in the Fra Mauro highlands in 1971, making it the first mission to land in a non-mare region. Apollo 16's Descartes Highlands landing in 1972 was the second highland landing.

Question 6

True or false: Apollo 16 was the fifth manned mission to land on the Moon.

Accepted Answer

True. Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, and 16 successfully landed on the Moon; Apollo 13 did not land due to an in-flight emergency.

Question 7

True or false: Apollo 16 experienced a critical engine failure that nearly aborted the mission.

Accepted Answer

False. Apollo 16 had a serious glitch in the command module's main engine before landing, but it was fixed and the mission continued. No engine failure occurred.

Question 8

True or false: Apollo 16 was the fifth mission to land humans on the Moon.

Accepted Answer

True. Apollo 11, 12, 14, and 15 all landed before Apollo 16, making it the fifth Moon landing mission. Apollo 13 famously aborted its landing.

Apollo 16 Trivia Questions