-1. Who wrote Butterfield 8?
-2. What was the threat posed to the Galapagos Islands in January 2001?
-3. The US space shuttles are officially known by the initials STS. What does that stand for?
-4. What was the name of the Greenpeace ship sunk in Auckland harbour in 1985?
-5. What is a sentence such as “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog,” known as?
-6. Name the two moons of Mars.
-7. Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretsky are famous players in which sport?
-8. Norma Desmond is the name of the lead character in which successful film and stage musical?
-9. What is the purpose of the tail propeller on a helicopter?
-10. What are the hardest and softest materials on the Moh scale of hardness?
-11. Which Greek physician was known as the Father of Medicine?
-12. What are these?

11. Hippocrates

He of the oath!

5. An English language pangram

I was going to say: A quote from "Stripes"

7. hockey

4. Rainbow Warrior. The French are not usually associated with terrorist acts, but their operatives sank the Greenpeace flagship on it's way to protest French nuclear testing.

jb, oldbroad - both good!

...and ScarletDragon

3, Space transport systems?

10. diamond / talcum powder

#12 reminds me of the pegs for my kitchen cabinet shelves

6. Deimos and Phobos

flotsam - good enough, "Space Transportation System"

michele, Lady K - spot-on!

They are pegs of a sort, Cheryl

12. guitar tuners

Indeed, young Joan!

My son has at least 15 guitars

Wow!...

1. John O'Hara
2. Large oil spill.

"The man who never fails"!

Just 8 and 9 left...

8. Sunset Boulevard

...and then there was one!

9. To prevent the helicopter from spinning (anti-torque) or rotating out of control

...and that just about wraps it up!