Question 1

True or false: The Parker Solar Probe was named after Eugene Parker, who first predicted the existence of solar wind in the 1950s.

Accepted Answer

True. Eugene Parker theorized solar wind in 1958. This is the first NASA mission named after a living person.

Question 2

True or false: Parker Solar Probe travels fast enough to go from New York to Tokyo in under a minute.

Accepted Answer

True. At its top speed of over 430,000 mph during close solar approaches, the probe could cover the roughly 6,700-mile distance in under a minute.

Question 3

True or false: The probe uses a giant umbrella-like heat shield that opens up like a parachute in space.

Accepted Answer

False. The heat shield is a fixed, flat carbon-composite panel, not an umbrella or parachute. It always faces the Sun.

Question 4

True or false: The Parker Solar Probe's heat shield can withstand temperatures up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Accepted Answer

True. The carbon-composite heat shield withstands up to 2,500°F, keeping instruments at a comfortable 85°F. It's about 4.5 inches thick.

Question 5

True or false: Parker Solar Probe will eventually fly close enough to touch the Sun's surface, called the photosphere.

Accepted Answer

False. It gets within 3.8 million miles of the surface, but 'touching' means entering the corona, not the photosphere. It won't land or touch the surface.

Question 6

True or false: Parker Solar Probe became the first spacecraft to fly through the Sun's corona in 2021.

Accepted Answer

True. In April 2021, NASA's Parker Solar Probe entered the Sun's upper atmosphere, the corona, becoming the first human-made object to directly sample the corona's particles and magnetic fields.

Question 7

True or false: The probe's orbit is so elliptical that it spends most of its time far from the Sun, then dives in quickly.

Accepted Answer

True. It uses Venus flybys to tighten its orbit, spending months far away before a brief, high-speed pass near the Sun.

Question 8

True or false: Parker Solar Probe carries a small plaque honoring the scientist who discovered sunspots.

Accepted Answer

False. It carries a plaque with a message from Eugene Parker and a memory card with names. No sunspot discoverer is mentioned.

Parker Solar Probe Trivia Questions