Radiation Belts

[Retro2001]

Hopefully this is HT worthy, if not, someone smack me around and I'll get rid of it. That said, here's the question. According to some NASA related documents I've read, the Van Allen radiation belts contain lots of very high energy particles, with energies up to and above 50 million eV. It seems to me like this could cause havok with satilites in high orbit. It also seems that this would have been damaging to astronauts leaving orbit enroute to the moon. Can someone more knowlegeable than I explain this to me? Thanks.

Peace,
Will

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Also known as the ELF bands (extremely low frequency, ~8Hz), satalites are placed either to the inside or outside of these bands. One of the first satalites launched was placed inside these bands and inadvertantly proved thier existance as it indeed was destroyed beyond functionality within a month.

 

[rimshaker]

This was one of the factors supporting the popular theory that the moon landing was all a fake.

 

[Smags87]

the moon landing was fake...o and btw the cia killed kennedy

o and ....lol people just want a story, when one gets old another equally false one comes up

the radiation belt probably doestn exist either..

 

[RussianSoldier]

there are people who still think the earth is flat, there are others that think it is only 6,000 years old... and then there are the ones that believe no one has landed on the moon...

 

[RussianSoldier]

Moon Hoax?

Radiation is a big problem when it comes to space travel and the Van Allen belts concentrate this radiation to surround the Earth. No matter what, the Apollo crafts had to go through these belts and there was no way the Apollo crafts could afford to take all the weight of lead shielding with them. So they were bound to be exposed. The question is, just how serious would this exposure be?

What you have to realise that the radiation involved isn't the same kind or intensity as you might get from a nuclear bomb. You don't fall sick and your hair doesn't all fall out. It's been calculated that travelling at speed through the Van Allen belt would result in exposure of 1 rem. Radiation sickness symptoms don't start to show until you get around 25. Once you reach 100 you're going to be ill. 500 and you're probably dead. So the exposure the astronauts received is pretty mild.

But that isn't to say either that it can't do you any harm. Added to the exposure they got actually out on the moon, it is a risk that can't be fully quantified. Who knows what cancers could result from it? Given the choice most people would want to avoid this kind of exposure to radiation. But the astronauts risked it because they thought it was worth it. This, and all the other risks they faced, is what makes them remarkable people.


check that site out, it explains probably every single one of your questions...

 

[PicPop]

good!

 

[bubba]

Yes, the radiation belts are real. Yes, they are bad. They almost destroyed the chips on the Chandra X-ray telescope.

Astronauts do have the risk of a high dose of high-energy particles. We are very lucky for the atmosphere, not only is it good to breathe, it provides a shield for us. The atmosphere provides the cross-section of about a meter of lead! If we were ever to have long-term space habitats, we would have to have an early warning system for solar particle bursts and fallout shelters to go in. Otherwise we would likely be damaged by the particles.