Van Allen belts are dangerous radiation rings in space – this is how astronauts exceed them

The main dishes to remember on Van Allen belts:

• In 1958, James Van Allen discovered far fewer cosmic rays than expected using a cosmic ray detector and suggested that a strong radiation belt may have damaged the device. The belts were therefore appointed in honor of Van Allen.

• Van Allen belts are a large energetic stew of loaded particles that surround the earth. The particles of the external belt come from the sun by means of the solar wind and are trapped by the magnetic field of the earth or the magnetosphere. The interior belt particles come when the cosmic rays interact with the earth’s atmosphere.

• This intense radiation makes spaces of space delicate. Astronauts must go through Van Allen belts to go to space. To do this in complete safety, they must trace their route so that they cross the lowest part of the belts and spend as little time as possible in this region.

Explore 1, the first American satellite (launched in 1958, three months after the launch of Sputnik of the USSR), found a big surprise in space: the Van Allen belts, the radiation rings which to date are still studied And always complicate travel in space.

The satellite wore a cosmic ray detector designed by the physicist James Van Allen of the Iowa University. The team included the detector because they expected to meet cosmic rays, which they had recently discovered thanks to balloon measurements.

When Van Allen’s device has detected much less cosmic rays than expected, Van Allen has hypothesized that a belt (or two, as it turned out) of strong radiation may have damaged the device. Another satellite, launched two months later, confirmed it. The belts were appointed in honor of Van Allen.

What are the Van Allen belts?

In the form of two huge donuts, the Van Allen belts are a large energetic stew of loaded particles that surround the earth. The particles of the external belt come from the sun by means of the solar wind and are trapped by the magnetic field of the earth, or magnetosphere, explains Mary HudsonSpace physicist at the University of Dartmouth. The interior belt particles come when the cosmic rays interact with the earth’s atmosphere.

“When the cosmic rays hit the atmosphere, they actually have nuclear collisions,” she said. “They collided with the nuclei of the atoms and expel neutrons, and the neutrons decompose in protons and electrons, on average, 15 in 15 minutes.”

How astronauts can go through belts

This intense radiation makes spaces of space delicate. Astronauts must go through Van Allen belts to go to space. To do this in complete safety, they must trace their route so that they cross the lowest part of the belts and spend as little time as possible in this region.

The NASA Apollo 8 was the first crew mission to cross the Van Allen belts on its way to orbit the moon in 1968. The following year, Apollo 11 put humans on the moon for the first time. During this historic trip, astronauts plotted their trip so that they only spend 52 minutes in the Van Allen belts, absorbing much less radiation than the maximum considered safe.

Learn more:: How does the magnetic field of the earth work?

Why are Van Allen belts important for travel in space

Van Allen belts are not the only problem when it comes to staying safe from radiation in space. Solar storms are also dangerous.

“There was a huge event of solar particles in August 1972 which occurred between two Apollo missions,” recalls Hudson, whose specialty is the space weather and solar activities. “If this had happened during one of the Apollo missions, it would have been very dangerous for astronauts.”

Hudson is part of a National Committee on Academies of Sciences that studies the best way to send people to the Moon to have scientific experiences. She points out that now that we are planning to return astronauts to the Moon, we will have to pay some attention to the way in which solar storms could affect these astronauts. And because they will be much longer, missions to Mars will take even more prudent weather calculations.

“I think we now have a much better forecast capacity than we did during the days of Apollo,” she said. “So I think it’s perfectly doable.”

Van Allen belts and satellite safety

Van Allen belts are not only a problem for spatial exploration. They can also damage satellites, and we set up a lot of satellites these days. Satellites are generally placed in low terrestrial orbit, under the heart of radiation belts.

But communication companies in some countries, says Hudson, set up satellites that spend a lot of time in places dangerous for satellites. This means that they will deteriorate more quickly, create more space debris and will have to be replaced more frequently.

But satellites in low terrestrial orbit can also be problematic. “Those in low terrestrial orbit, such as Starlink satellites, probably have a planned life which is much less than 25 years old, just because they are at so low altitude,” explains Hudson.

Understanding Van Allen belts and spatial time in general is essential for safe trips. And it turns out that it is essential for communications here on earth too.

Find out more: Are solar flares superb but are they dangerous? Here’s what you need to know

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Avery Hurt is an independent scientific journalist. In addition to writing to discover, she writes regularly for a variety of points of sale, both printed and online, including National Geographic, Science News Explore, Medscape and WebMD. She is the author of Bullet with your name: what you will probably die and what you can do on this subject, Clerisy Press 2007, as well as several books for young readers. Avery made his debut in journalism while attending the university, writing for the school newspaper and editing the magazine Student non-fiction. Although she writes in all areas of science, she is particularly interested in neuroscience, the science of conscience and the interests of AI that it has developed while obtaining a diploma in philosophy.