Deck 12: The Moon and Mercury: Comparing Airless Worlds

Question 1

The lunar rocks brought back by the Apollo astronauts contained a surprisingly large amount of water.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Aside from Earth, the lunar maria is the only place in the Solar System with liquid water.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

What does "maria" mean?

A) plateaus
B) ponds
C) rivers
D) rivers
E) seas

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Since there are no folded mountain chains on the Moon, what does this imply about the Moon's geology?

A) Plate tectonics does not exist on the Moon.
B) The geological history is extremely short.
C) Mountains were worn down by erosion.
D) Mountains were destroyed during the heavy bombardment.
E) Mountains were destroyed during the heavy bombardment.

Question 5

Mercury may have ice trapped in the crater floors near the planet's north pole.

Question 6

Mercury is more than 60 percent denser than the Moon.

Question 7

Mercury completes one orbit around the Sun in 8 days.

Question 8

Mercury is still geologically active today.

Question 9

Because of Mercury's lower gravity, ejecta from a meteorite covers much of its surface.

Question 10

Most of the craters on the Moon are relatively young.

Question 11

Between July 1969 and December 1972, 17 people reached the surface of the Moon.

Question 12

Mare Imbrium is the result of a planetesimal of 275 km across striking the lunar surface 4 billion years ago.

Question 13

The nights are cold on Mercury because it has a negligible atmosphere.

Question 14

What are sinuous rilles found on the lunar surface?

A) ancient lava flows
B) channels cut by flowing lava on the edge of the maria
C) large basins once filled with water
D) light-colored rock found in the lunar highlands
E) fault lines found within the crust

Question 15

There is no air on the Moon to scatter light and soften shadows

Question 16

What is the dominant feature of the lunar surface?

A) mountains
B) rilles
C) craters
D) lobate scarps
E) lava tubes

Question 17

The Moon's crust is thicker on the side facing Earth.

Question 18

The Moon's core does not contain much iron, so it cannot produce a dynamo effect.

Question 19

Lobate scarps are very low and small disturbances on the surface of Mercury.

Question 20

Mercury has a weak magnetic field because of its iron core.

Question 21

Which Apollo mission never made it to the lunar surface?

A) Apollo 11
B) Apollo 12
C) Apollo 13
D) Apollo 14
E) Apollo 15

Question 22

Which of the following is the oldest geological feature of the Moon?

A) maria
B) lowlands
C) highlands
D) regolith
E) rilles

Question 23

What part of the Apollo spacecraft actually returned to Earth?

A) descent rocket
B) lunar module
C) rocket boosters
D) command module
E) support stage

Question 24

Where did the Apollo 11 lunar module land and sample?

A) Taurus-Littrow region
B) Taurus-Littrow region
C) Mare Tranquillitatis
D) Hadley Rille
E) Descartes region

Question 25

In larger craters, the deformation of the rock can form one or more concentric inner rings with the outer rim, producing _____.

A) ejecta blanket
B) maria
C) sinuous rilles
D) central peak
E) multiringed basin

Question 26

Which was the source of lava during the flooding stage of the Moon's development?

A) moonquakes and tectonic shifts
B) lower crust and upper mantle
C) the deep core
D) volcanoes
E) impacts

Question 27

Where did the Apollo 15 lunar module land and sample?

A) Taurus-Littrow region
B) Oceanus Procellarum
C) Mare Tranquillitatis
D) Hadley Rille
E) Descartes region

Question 28

What is one of the largest impact basin in the Solar System?

A) Crisium Basin
B) Caloris Basin
C) Imbrium Basin
D) Mare Tranquillitatis
E) Aitken Basin

Question 29

What solid evidence do we have of the Moon's age?

A) deep core samples of the Moon
B) igneous rock samples brought back by Apollo astronauts
C) meteorites that have impacted Earth
D) laser altimetry readings from the LCROSS mission
E) sedimentary rock samples brought back by Apollo astronauts

Question 30

Large, smooth, dark plains on the Moon are called ____.

A) ejecta blanket
B) central peak
C) maria
D) multiringed basin
E) Sinuous rilles

Question 31

What formed the lunar maria?

A) ancient lava flows
B) Earth-Moon collision
C) volcanic eruptions
D) erosion
E) tectonic plate movement

Question 32

During which stage of planetary development did the lunar maria form?

A) cratering
B) differentiation
C) flooding
D) tectonic plate movement
E) slow surface evolution

Question 33

Debris blasted from the impact of a crater is called ____.

A) ejecta
B) maria
C) sinuous rilles
D) multiringed basin
E) central peak

Question 34

Which mission has recently provided scientists with information about Mercury's magnetic field?

A) Magellan
B) MESSENGER
C) LCROSS
D) Voyager
E) Apollo

Question 35

Which best describes Mercury's plains?

A) heavily impacted with craters and large rays
B) solidified lava flows that are a uniform gray color
C) a geologically active surface of molten lava
D) solidified lava flows rich in dark basalts
E) a rich layer of soil containing iron and silicate

Question 36

What method was used to determine the absolute ages of the lunar rock samples from the Apollo missions?

A) electromagnetic measuring
B) radar imaging
C) telescopic observations
D) microscopic evaluation
E) radioactive dating

Question 37

What makes up the dark colors of the lunar lowlands?

A) sedimentary rock
B) anorthosite
C) andesite
D) basalt
E) iron

Question 38

What is the Moon's gravity?

A) There is no gravity on the Moon.
B) 1/3 of Earth's gravity
C) 1/2 of Earth's gravity
D) 1/6 of Earth's gravity
E) The Moon's gravity is the same as that of Earth.

Question 39

Which hypothesis suggested that the Moon formed elsewhere and was later caught by Earth's gravity?

A) fission hypothesis
B) fusion hypothesis
C) large-impact hypothesis
D) capture hypothesis
E) condensation hypothesis

Question 40

What was the purpose of the LCROSS mission?

A) To determine if lava still flowed beneath the crust
B) To generate an altitude map of the Moon's surface
C) To photograph geological features of the Moon
D) To photograph geological features of the Moon
E) To determine if there is water ice buried in soil of the Moon's south pole

Question 43

All rock samples brought from the Moon by the Apollo astronauts are _________ rocks.

A) igneous
B) metamorphic
C) sedimentary
D) limestone
E) gneiss

Question 44

Will the Moon's surface change over time? Why or why not?

Question 45

It is believed that a giant impact may have taken away some of Mercury's low-density crustal rock and left a small, dense world with a(n) large, dense, and _______________ core.

Question 46

Which is the oldest geological feature of Mercury?

A) smooth plains
B) jumbled terrain
C) intercrater plains
D) lobate scarps
E) rilles

Question 47

What space mission is currently exploring Mercury? What information has this mission so far provided about the planet?

Question 48

What may have caused Mercury to have a large metallic core and a relatively thin crust?

A) a large impact
B) tidal coupling with the Sun
C) solar wind clearing the nebula
D) a slow orbital period
E) a long period of flooding

Question 49

What are the shared common characteristics of the Moon and Mercury?

Question 50

Tidal coupling has enabled some astronomical bodies, such as the Moon and Mercury, to achieve a rational ratio between rotation and revolution, known as a __________.

Question 51

The dividing line between daylight and darkness on the Moon is called its__________.

Question 52

What surprised scientists to learn about Mercury from MESSENGER's data?

A) Mercury is still geologically active with molten lava flows on the surface.
B) Mercury does have an atmosphere causing some erosion of the surface.
C) Mercury has significantly more craters than the Moon.
D) Mercury has a magnetic field despite its size.
E) Mercury is rotating faster than earlier predicted.

Question 53

Which characteristic is NOT shared by the Moon and Mercury?

A) heavily cratered surface
B) negligible atmosphere
C) rotations altered by tides
D) dense metallic core
E) geologically inactive

Question 54

Which is a unique geological feature found on Mercury's surface?

A) craters
B) lobate scarps
C) shield volcanoes
D) sinuous rilles
E) basins

Question 55

Briefly compare and contrast the characteristics of the Moon and Mercury.

Question 56

How were the lunar maria formed?

Question 57

Explain the three different hypotheses for the origin of the Moon and how evidence from the Apollo lunar rocks persuaded scientists to develop a new hypothesis.

Question 58

What is the largest impact crater on Mercury?

A) Caloris Basin
B) Aitken Basin
C) Mare Crisium
D) Mare Imbrium
E) Mare Tranquillitatis

Question 59

Briefly describe Mercury's geological history through the four steps of planetary development.

Question 60

Explain Mercury's peculiar rotation and revolution. How is it different than most other planets?

Question 61

What was significant in the design of the Apollo spacecraft?

Question 62

The Moon's gravity is only _______________ that of Earth.

Question 63

The Apollo spacecraft had a(n) _______________  tacked on the front of the command module.

Question 64

The relationship between the rotation of Mercury and its revolution is referred as a(n) _______________.

Question 65

Mercury's _______________ are marked by meteorite craters less than 15 km in diameter, in addition to secondary craters.

Question 66

The lunar _______________ are saturated with craters.

Question 67

The lunar maria are ancient _______________ that have apparently covered older, cratered lowlands.

Question 68

Mercury is _______________ to the Sun, thus affecting its rotation.

Question 69

Because of the _______________, atoms in Mercury's atmosphere just bounce around and eventually disappear into space.

Question 70

Many Moon rocks are classified as _______________, which are made up of fragments of earlier rocks cemented together by heat and pressure.

Question 71

The rate of heat loss of a planet is proportional to its _______________, thus the smaller the world, the faster it is for heat to escape.

Question 72

The presence of _______________ increases the possibility that a human lunar base may be established someday.

Question 73

There are no _______________ rocks on the surface of the Moon.

Question 74

Because the Moon has a low average density and no magnetic field, then its dense core must be _______________.

Question 75

Mercury's period of rotation is exactly _______________ of its orbital period.