🚀 Space trivia for kids

Every answer checked 31 October 2026. Free, no sign-up, nothing to download.

Space questions for three ages, with the answers checked against NASA's planet pages and the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum: the Red Planet and the ringed one for the little ones, Venus and Sally Ride for the middle ones, light-years and the Apollo 11 command module for the big ones.

🐣 Little round: ages 6–8 (grades K–2)

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1.Which planet is called the Red Planet?
- A Mars
- B Jupiter
- C Venus
2.What do we call a hot spring that shoots water up into the air?
- A a glacier
- B a geyser
- C a waterfall
3.Where does moonlight really come from?
- A the Sun
- B the stars
- C a fire inside the Moon
4.Which river carved the Grand Canyon?
- A the Colorado River
- B the Nile River
- C the Mississippi River
5.Which planet is famous for its huge, bright rings?
- A Mercury
- B Mars
- C Saturn
6.Which planet is closest to the Sun?
- A Mercury
- B Venus
- C Earth
7.Who was the first person to walk on the Moon?
- A Buzz Aldrin
- B Neil Armstrong
- C Michael Collins
8.What is the name of the galaxy we live in?
- A the Andromeda Galaxy
- B the Milky Way
- C the Big Dipper
9.What is the biggest planet in our solar system?
- A Earth
- B Jupiter
- C Saturn
10.What kind of space object is the Sun?
- A a star
- B a moon
- C a planet

🔑 Show the answers

A: Mars. Mars looks red because iron in its dusty dirt has rusted. Source: NASA Science
B: a geyser. Old Faithful in Yellowstone is one of the most famous geysers in the world. Source: National Park Service
A: the Sun. The Moon makes no light of its own; sunlight bounces off it. Source: NASA Space Place
A: the Colorado River. The river still flows along the bottom of the canyon today. Source: National Park Service
C: Saturn. Other planets have rings too, but none are as grand as Saturn's. Source: NASA Science
A: Mercury. Mercury is also the smallest planet, only a bit bigger than our Moon. Source: NASA Science
B: Neil Armstrong. He got there on the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. Source: NASA
B: the Milky Way. A galaxy is a huge group of stars, gas and dust held together by gravity. Source: NASA Space Place
B: Jupiter. If Jupiter were hollow, about 1,000 Earths could fit inside. Source: NASA Science
A: a star. The Sun is a hot, glowing ball of gas at the center of our solar system. Source: NASA Science

🦊 Middle round: ages 9–11 (grades 3–5)

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1.Which planet is tipped so far over that it seems to spin on its side?
- A Uranus
- B Saturn
- C Neptune
2.Which became the world's first national park, in 1872?
- A the Grand Canyon
- B Yellowstone
- C Yosemite
3.What do we call the Moon phase when we can't see the Moon at all?
- A a half moon
- B a full moon
- C a new moon
4.What instrument records the shaking of an earthquake?
- A a barometer
- B a seismograph
- C a thermometer
5.In what year did astronauts first land on the Moon?
- A 1959
- B 1969
- C 1979
6.About how many Earth days does Mercury take to go once around the Sun?
- A 687 days
- B 365 days
- C 88 days
7.Who was the first American woman to fly in space?
- A Eileen Collins
- B Sally Ride
- C Peggy Whitson
8.Which planet is the hottest in our solar system?
- A Venus
- B Mercury
- C Mars
9.In what year was Pluto reclassified as a dwarf planet?
- A 1990
- B 1930
- C 2006
10.About how far is the Sun from Earth?
- A about 93 billion miles
- B about 93 million miles
- C about 93 thousand miles

🔑 Show the answers

A: Uranus. Its tilt makes it roll around the Sun like a ball. Source: NASA Science
B: Yellowstone. Its geysers and hot springs were a big reason it was protected. Source: National Park Service
C: a new moon. During a new moon, the side of the Moon facing Earth is dark. Source: NASA Space Place
B: a seismograph. It draws a zig-zag line called a seismogram. Source: U.S. Geological Survey
B: 1969. Apollo 11's lander touched down on July 20, 1969. Source: NASA
C: 88 days. That makes Mercury the fastest planet in our solar system. Source: NASA Science
B: Sally Ride. She flew on the space shuttle in 1983 and later became a physics professor. Source: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
A: Venus. Mercury is closer to the Sun, but Venus's thick air traps heat. Source: NASA Science
C: 2006. Pluto was discovered in 1930 and was long called the ninth planet. Source: NASA Science
B: about 93 million miles. That is about 150 million kilometers. Source: NASA Science

🦉 Big round: ages 12 and up (grades 6 and up)

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1.Why do we always see the same side of the Moon from Earth?
- A it spins once per trip around Earth
- B it does not spin at all
- C Earth's shadow hides the other side
2.The Challenger Deep, the deepest known part of the ocean, lies in which trench?
- A the Aleutian Trench
- B the Puerto Rico Trench
- C the Mariana Trench
3.What does a light-year measure?
- A a distance
- B a length of time
- C a brightness
4.Which earthquake waves usually arrive first at a faraway place?
- A S waves
- B surface waves
- C P waves
5.Which planet was the first found by math predictions instead of by watching the sky?
- A Saturn
- B Uranus
- C Neptune
6.Which planet has the shortest day in the solar system?
- A Jupiter
- B Mercury
- C Saturn
7.What was the name of the Apollo 11 lunar module that landed on the Moon?
- A Columbia
- B Eagle
- C Falcon
8.About how hot is the core of the Sun?
- A about 27 million °F
- B about 27 thousand °F
- C about 2,700 °F
9.What is the name of Pluto's largest moon?
- A Charon
- B Triton
- C Titan
10.Which part of the Apollo 11 spacecraft was the only one to return to Earth?
- A the command module
- B the lunar module
- C the service module

🔑 Show the answers

A: it spins once per trip around Earth. Scientists say Earth and the Moon are tidally locked. Source: NASA Science
C: the Mariana Trench. It is about 10,935 meters deep, in the western Pacific Ocean. Source: NOAA National Ocean Service
A: a distance. One light-year is about 6 trillion miles, how far light goes in a year. Source: NASA Science
C: P waves. P stands for primary; the slower S, or secondary, waves arrive later. Source: U.S. Geological Survey
C: Neptune. Astronomers spotted it in 1846 on their first night of searching. Source: NASA Science
A: Jupiter. Jupiter spins around once in only about 9.9 hours. Source: NASA Science
B: Eagle. It set down in a flat, dark plain called the Sea of Tranquility. Source: NASA
A: about 27 million °F. That heat is enough to power nuclear fusion. Source: NASA Science
A: Charon. Charon is about half the size of Pluto, so the pair is often called a double planet. Source: NASA Science
A: the command module. That command module, Columbia, has been at the Smithsonian since 1971. Source: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

For the host

No moon counts here on purpose: new moons keep being found, so any number on a list goes out of date.

Read each question and its three answers aloud, or press ▶ Play and Peabody reads them; a tap shows the answer, a line about it and where it comes from.
On a phone, pass it round: one question per team, a star for each right answer. On a laptop or a TV, press 📺 Big screen.
On paper, print the cards, one answer sheet per team and the key on its own page.

Where these questions come from

Each question was written by Peabody in its own words and checked against one page, named under its answer. The pages we used for these rounds:

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