20110311

Astronomy current events question: NASA Glory Mission launch failure

Astronomy 210L, Spring Semester 2011
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)
NASA Mission News, "NASA Names Mishap Board For Taurus XL Launch Failure Investigation," March 2011 (undated)
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/Glory/main/index.html
NASA's Glory Mission spacecraft, which recently failed on its launch, was intended to:
(A) test new Space Shuttle replacement technology.
(B) observe how atmospheric particles affect Earth's climate.
(C) travel to and land on Jupiter's moon, Europa.
(D) discover and track near-Earth asteroids.
(E) unfold an experimental solar sail.

Correct answer: (B)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 12 students
(B) : 7 students
(C) : 2 students
(D) : 2 students
(E) : 1 student

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