What Would be Like to Fall into a Black Hole?

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Quiz

Life on Earth will be endangered when the Sun turns into a Black Hole at the end of its lifetime.

1: This is true.
2: This is false because the Sun likely will end up as a Neutron Star, not a Black Hole.
3: This is false because the Sun likely will end up as a White Dwarf.
4: This is false because it is so far in the future that humans will have long since migrated from Earth.

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What are the first sensations someone falling into a Black Hole might experience?

1: Initial weightlessness in freefall, followed by brightly colored lights and eerie sounds.
2: A heaviness in the feet, then optical distortions followed by weightlessness.
3: Initial weightlessness, followed by optical disortions and then a feeling of being stretched apart.
4: First there would be a feeling of well-being, and then a white light at the end of a tunnel.

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An astronaut sends a final message, seconds before death, just after passing through the Event Horizon of a Black Hole, "It's beautiful . . . " Could this happen?

1: Yes, but only for the large black holes in which the astronaut could remain conscious after passing the Event Horizon.
2: Yes, but the receiving radio will have to adjust for the constantly shifting wavelengths of the radio signal.
3: No, because the Black Hole creates a mirror signal that cancels the signal sent by the astronaut.
4: No.

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A person falling into a Black Hole would appear to . . .

1: slow down to a stop, as if frozen in place, change colors to red and then fade away.
2: accelerate as they fell, then disappear in a bright explosive flash.
3: accelerate as the fell, then grow brighter, instantly disappearing as they passed through the Event Horizon.
4: slow down near the Event Horizon, then grow fainter, slowly disappearing on the other side.

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There is much to be learned about Black Holes, but for now it seems unlikely that they will ever be probed by astronauts or even automated craft, except outside the Event Horizon. Still, as the quote goes, "There are always . . . possibilities." Who said it?

1: Albert Einstein
2: Master Yoda
3: Mr. Spock
4: Stephen Hawking

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