MCQ Detailed View

The Parker Solar Probe is a special spacecraft launched by NASA to study the Sun more closely than ever before. It was launched in August 2018 with the mission of exploring the Sun’s outer atmosphere, known as the corona, to understand how the Sun works and how it affects our solar system.

The Sun constantly sends out streams of charged particles, called the solar wind, which travel through space and can affect Earth. These solar winds can disturb satellites, GPS signals, communication systems, and even power grids. By flying very close to the Sun, Parker Solar Probe collects information about these particles, the Sun’s magnetic field, and the high temperatures in the corona. This helps scientists better predict space weather and protect our technology on Earth.

The spacecraft is built with a special carbon-composite heat shield that can survive temperatures hotter than 1,300°C while keeping its instruments safe. It gradually moves closer to the Sun on every orbit, making it the closest human-made object to the Sun in history.

This mission is named after Dr. Eugene Parker, a scientist who first explained the idea of solar wind in 1958. The other names listed in the options, such as Darker Solar Probe, Walker Solar Probe, and Falkner Solar Probe, are not real NASA missions.

The correct answer is Parker Solar Probe, which is currently sending valuable data to help humans understand how our Sun works. This question falls under Everyday Science (General Science) because it explains real-life space technology that impacts daily life on Earth through better communication safety and space weather predictions.