Life Sciences in Space
Chapter Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Life Sciences in Space explores the biological and physiological challenges faced by living organisms in the space environment. The course examines how microgravity, cosmic radiation, and other space-specific factors impact cellular function, plant and animal development, human health, and microbial activity. Students will analyze key life science experiments conducted aboard space missions, learn about the technological solutions used to support life in space, and discuss the implications for future space exploration and colonization. The course also reviews current and emerging research on astrobiology, biotechnology, and the adaptation of life to extraterrestrial conditions.
Recommended Textbook
Life in the Universe 4th Edition by Jeffrey O. Bennett
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13 Chapters
1172 Verified Questions
1172 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: A Universe of Life
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28 Verified Questions
28 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) If life exists on Mars today it will most likely be found
A) everywhere-on the surface, beneath the surface, and in its atmosphere
B) on the surface
C) beneath the surface
D) in its atmosphere
Answer: C
Q2) The fact that the life on Earth seems to have appeared quite rapidly suggests that life
A) can arise on most habitable worlds
B) can only appear soon after a planet forms
C) on any kind of planet is inevitable
D) is only possible on Earth-like planets
Answer: A
Q3) Humanity has been thinking about the possibility of extraterrestrial life
A) since the first reports of unidentified flying objects in the 1940's
B) since reports of canals on Mars were first made in the 1870's
C) throughout human history since the time of the ancient Greeks
Answer: C
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3
Chapter 2: The Science of Life in the Universe
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73 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Johannes Kepler
A) developed a theory of gravity to explain the motions of the planets
B) obtained the first observational evidence suggesting the Earth moved about the Sun
C) made detailed measurements of the motions of the planets in the sky
D) showed that the orbits of the planets were ellipses and not circles
Answer: D
Q2) How are Newton's and Einstein's theories of gravity related?
A) Newton's theory applies only to planetary motion while Einstein's theory applies only to black holes
B) Einstein's theory is an approximation of Newton's theory
C) the two theories are identical
D) Newton's theory is an approximation of Einstein's theory
Answer: D
Q3) Modern science attempts to seek explanations for phenomena that are based on
A) new subjective laws that are yet to be confirmed experimentally
B) intuitive expectations
C) the views of leading scientists
D) the known laws of nature
Answer: D
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Chapter 3: The Universal Context of Life
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Sample Questions
Q1) If we had sent a radio signal to an advanced civilization in 2006 which is located in the zeta reticuli star system approximately 39 light-years away and the signal was immediately replied to, when would the reply arrive back at Earth?
A) 2084
B) 2012
C) 2045
D) 2039
Answer: A
Q2) Which of the following materials present in the solar system had the highest condensation temperatures?
A) metals
B) rocks
C) hydrogen and helium gases
D) hydrogen compounds like water, methane, and ammonia
Answer: A
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Chapter 4: The Habitability of Earth
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Sample Questions
Q1) Differentiation is a process by which
A) denser materials like iron sank to the center of the Earth while less dense materials like rock rose to the surface
B) the Earth's surface separated into continents and oceans
C) convection mixed up the materials in the interior of the Earth
D) less dense materials like rock sank to the center of the Earth while denser materials like iron rose to the surface
Q2) Although fossils can be made in numerous ways, only a tiny fraction of living organisms leave behind any kind of fossil remnant because
A) most minerals that replace organic material are soluble in water and so dissolve away
B) the vast majority of dead organisms decay long before any mineral replacement can occur
C) the organic material is destroyed by radioactivity
D) they are destroyed by geological processes before mineral replacement can occur
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6
Chapter 5: The Nature of Life on Earth
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Sample Questions
Q1) The organisms Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Homo sapiens
A) are part of the same genus B) have nothing in common C) are part of the same genus and species D) are part of the same species
Q2) A section of DNA that does not correspond to a known protein is referred to as A) redundant
B) recombinant C) unencoding
D) noncoding
Q3) A photoautotroph gets its energy from A) the Sun and its carbon from other organisms
B) chemical reactions and its carbon from other organisms
C) chemical reactions and its carbon from its environment
D) the Sun and its carbon from the its environment
Q4) The atoms in a molecule are joined together by chemical A) bonds
B) linkages
C) attachments
D) ligatures
Page 7
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Chapter 6: The Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth
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Sample Questions
Q1) The first eukarya appeared
A) 4.6 billion years ago
B) around 3.5 billion years ago
C) 4.0 billion years ago
D) at least 2.1 billion years ago or perhaps even earlier
Q2) Most of the injuries caused by the Chelyabinsk event in 2013 were caused by
A) smoke inhalation
B) UV radiation from the fireball
C) glass shattered by the shock wave
D) the sonic boom as the object passed through the Earth's atmosphere
Q3) The "top-down" approach to creating artificial life starts
A) in the laboratory with the raw ingredients of life, and seeks to reproduce life in much the same way that it presumably originated billions of years ago
B) with a complex organism and then removes cells that are not absolutely necessary
C) with existing organisms and genetically strips them down, then tries to rebuild them into new species
D) with animal cells and attempts to clone them
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8
Chapter 7: Searching for Life in Our Solar System
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Sample Questions
Q1) Mercury and the Moon do not have atmospheres because
A) their surfaces are so cold that any atmospheric gases freeze out onto their surfaces
B) charged particles from the Sun have stripped away their atmospheres
C) they are rotating too rapidly, causing their atmospheres to be thrown out into space
D) their gravities are too weak to prevent atmospheric gases escaping into space
Q2) The Mars Curiosity rover, landed on the surface of Mars using A) balloons
B) a skycrane
C) parachutes
D) airbags
Q3) If ice were denser than water, during winter lakes and ponds would A) completely freeze
B) remain liquid
C) freeze on the surface but remain liquid beneath
D) freeze on the bottom but remain liquid at the surface
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9
Chapter 8: Mars
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Sample Questions
Q1) The volcano Olympus Mons on Mars is
A) taller than Mt. Everest and as large as the state of Arizona
B) smaller than Mt. Everest but as large as North America
C) taller than Mt. Everest and but only as large as the Big Island of Hawaii
D) about the same height and size as Mt. St. Helens in Washington State, USA
Q2) Due to its elliptical orbit, Mars is farther from the Sun on average during winter in the Southern Hemisphere. This means Southern Winter on Mars will be
A) long and mild
B) short and hot
C) long and cold
D) short and mild
Q3) For water to have been stable on Mars in the past,
A) temperature must have been higher and the atmospheric pressure lower
B) temperature must have been lower and the atmospheric pressure higher
C) both the temperature and the atmospheric pressure must have been higher
D) both the temperature and the atmospheric pressure must have been lower
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Chapter 9: Life on Jovian Moons
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why is the innermost Galilean moon Io made mostly of rock while the outermost Galilean moon, Callisto made of a mixture of ice and rock?
A) Io formed close to Jupiter where the temperatures were too high for ices to form
B) Callisto was captured as it wandered in from the Kuiper Belt
C) Io once had ice on its surface which was vaporized away by volcanism
D) Callisto experience many impact by icy comets which built up a layer of ice on its surface
Q2) Energy to support an origin of life in a Europan ocean would probably come from
A) deep-sea volcanic vents
B) sunlight filtering through the ice
C) meteoroid impacts on the surface
D) heat generated from Jupiter's magnetic field
Q3) The Hubble Space Telescope has recently strengthened the case for a subsurface ocean on Ganymede by observing
A) changes in time of auroras surrounding the moon
B) a thin atmosphere of water vapor above the surface
C) salts on its surface
D) jets of water erupting from the surface
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Chapter 10: The Nature and Evolution of Habitability
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Sample Questions
Q1) A star less luminous than our Sun will have a habitable zone that is
A) narrower and closer to the star than the habitable zone of the Sun
B) wider and closer to the star than the habitable zone of the Sun
C) narrower and farther from the star than the habitable zone of the Sun
D) wider and farther from the star than the habitable zone of the Sun
Q2) If distance from the Sun were the only factor affecting surface habitability, which of the following would be habitable?
A) the Moon
B) Venus
C) Mercury
D) all of these
Q3) When the Sun was younger, how did its habitable zone compare with its habitable zone today?
A) narrower and closer to the Sun
B) narrower and farther from the Sun
C) wider and closer to the Sun
D) wider and farther from the Sun
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Chapter 11: Extrasolar Planets: Their Nature and Potential
Habitability
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100 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) M-type stars in our galaxy are
A) fairly common (several percent)
B) the most common type of stars in our galaxy (75% or more)
C) very common, making up about 50% of the total
D) very rare (less than 1%)
Q2) Which of the following methods uses astrometry to detect extrasolar planets around other star systems?
A) detection of Doppler shifts in the spectra of the parent stars
B) detection of reflected starlight
C) detection of brightness changes in a star as a planet passes in front of it
D) regular changes in the positions of the parent stars with respect to more distant stars as they move across the sky
Q3) Life may be less likely around A- and F-type stars because
A) they emit large quantities of ultraviolet radiation
B) they experience violent surface activity
C) their habitable zones are very narrow
D) rocky planets are unlikely to form around them
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Page 13
Chapter 12: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
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75 Verified Questions
75 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The organisms with the next highest Encephalization Quotient (EQ) ratios after humans are
A) dolphins
B) humans
C) whales
D) chimps
Q2) Which type of electromagnetic radiation is able to carry the most information?
A) gamma rays
B) microwaves
C) all types have equal ability
D) radio waves
Q3) Optical SETI is useful for
A) focused communication over short distances and in particular directions
B) communication over wide areas and large distances
C) communication over large distances in directions where interstellar dust is not present
D) communication with civilizations which surround similar stars to our Sun and hence have evolved to see visible radiation
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14
Chapter 13: Interstellar Travel and the Fermi Paradox
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Sample Questions
Q1) In Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, spacetime is
A) one dimensional
B) two dimensional
C) four dimensional
D) three dimensional
Q2) Which kind of interstellar spacecraft collects its fuel during its passage?
A) interstellar ark
B) matter-antimatter rocket
C) solar sail
D) interstellar ramjet
Q3) Nuclear fusion is the process by which
A) electrons are rearranged inside an atom, releasing energy
B) a number of smaller nuclei combine to form a larger nucleus with the release of energy
C) an electron is ejected from the nucleus of an atom, releasing energy
D) large nuclei break up into smaller nuclei with the release of energy
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