Final Jeopardy: Countries With Space Programs (5-2-24)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (5/2/2024) in the category “Countries With Space Programs” was:
It launched its first satellite, Asterix, in 1965
New champ Weckiai Rannila, an engineer from Albuquerque, NM, won $9,999 yesterday. In Game 2, her opponents are: Angelus Kocoshis, an attorney & flower farmer from Muncie, IN; and Sarah Hardy, a pediatrician from Hot Springs, AR.
Round 1 Categories: A View of the City – Celebrity Siblings – Diaries & Journals – Stock Symbols – You Gotta Have Heart – 1950s Talk
Angelus found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Diaries & Journals” under the $1,000 clue on the 8th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $2,400, $600 more than Sarah in second place. Angelus bet it all and guessed Seurat. That was WRONG.
On July 4, 1862 he made an entry in his diary saying he went “to Godstow with the 3 Liddells; we had tea on the bank there” show
Weckiai finished in the lead with $6,600. Angelus was second with $4,200 and Sarah was last with $3,800. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Literary North Carolina – The Greats of History – Physics – Fast &/or Furious – The Girl in The Song – Word Origins
Angelus found the first Daily Double in “The Greats of History” under the $1,600 clue on the 4th pick. He was in last place with $3,400 now, $3,200 less than Weckiai’s lead. Angelus bet it all and this time, he was RIGHT.
A 3rd century B.C. leader of this Punic city, Hanno the Great opposed costly wars & even negotiated peace with Rome. show
Angelus got the last Daily Double in “Word Origins” under the $800 clue at the halfway point. In second place with $8,400, he had $1,800 less than Weckiai’s lead. Angelus bet $5,000 and it sounded like he was trying “nabob” when the time ran out but that was WRONG anyhow.
A wealthy & powerful businessman, it was borrowed from the Japanese who in turn borrowed it from the Chinese words for “great prince” show
Weckiai finished in the lead with $15,000. Sarah was next with $9,000 and Angelus was in third place with $4,600. We didn’t get to see the $400 clue in Girl’s Names.
ALL of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS FRANCE?
France’s first satellite, originally named A1, was renamed Asterix after the popular cartoon character Asterix the Gaul. It was launched from a desert base in Algeria in the early morning of 11/26/1965. With that, France became the 6th nation to launch a satellite and the 3rd to launch a satellite atop its own rocket, the 3 stage Diamant-A.
According to Universe Today, “Though inoperative, Asterix still orbits the Earth once every 107 minutes in an elliptical low Earth orbit” and “isn’t expected to reenter for several centuries.” They’ll also tell you how Asterix can be spotted from your backyard.
Angelus bet nothing, standing pat on $4,600.
Sarah bet $8,999 and finished with $17,999.
Weckiai bet $3,001 and won the game with $18,001. Her 2-day total is $28,000.
A triple stumper from each round:
THE GREATS OF HISTORY ($800) Medieval popes called the Great included Gregory I & the first pope of this name who served from 440 to 461 & suppressed heresy
FAST &/OR FURIOUS ($2000) Angry Young Men, a British literary movement of the 1950s, included John Osborne & this 1956 play of his, perfect for that movement
2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “BOOKS OF THE 1970s”
Aptly, members of a black family in this novel have biblical names: Pilate, Hagar & the title one, an ancestor of the protagonist show
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Many years of French classes led me to the FJ answer. I found all three DDs difficult and all the stumpers except the Osborne play and the girl in “Born to Run.” The most perfect rock song ever recorded. The 60s/70s were my musical heyday, and anything since then is pretty foreign to me. Although I’ve learned a lot of 80s tunes from the two radio stations I listen to at home.
I got FJ. I almost confused myself, because I thought of the ESA (European Space Agency), who have a launch facility at Kourou, French Guiana. However, French class saved me!
Yet again this week, my 80s retro heart aches again with the Pretty In Pink TS. I have said, many times, that, if you listen to the song, you’ll realize it’s the saddest song of the 80s.
Something about Wekiai’s manner bothers me. Maybe it’s too abrupt. Also, both of her games, so far, have been lower scoring.
Angelus went with “GBOGH” (Go big or go home); too bad it didn’t work out.
@Jason, I thought “Luka” was the saddest song of the ’80s. “Fast Car” is pretty depressing too 😲
I did about average during the game today, and flubbed the FJ. Actually, I never thought that France had ever launched a satellite. Anyways, I went with China for FJ (it sure wasn’t going to be India), but I knew that wasn’t going to fly.
Glad you made it through the storm. Your work is always amazing!
Thanks, Sam, so nice of you to say so. It was a little scary at first when they were talking flooded streets and homes and it all started after the kids went to school. I’m sure we weren’t the only ones thinking Yikes!
The last time the weather was really bad, they had more notice and closed the schools. After that though, one official was reported as saying that they weren’t going to close the schools for bad weather anymore. smh
That’s the best image I could get today — we were preempted because of heavy rains down here. The severe storm warning expired at 11:45 a.m. and I thought they would pick up Jeopardy in progress, but no…. they just kept reporting the same things till noon and then said join us on our weather app
I’ll get a better image with the actual scores later.