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What are the Van Allen Belts? How much radiation is being generated by the belts?
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The radiation in the Van Allen belts is in the form of charged particles, mainly protons and electrons from the solar wind, which have become temporarily trapped in the earth's magnetic field.
http://lasp.colorado.edu/strv/vanallen_strv.html
Energy is not actively generated in the belts; the radio-frequency emissions are powered by energy from the sun and from high-altitude lightning discharges.
http://www.universetoday.com/2008/03/06/origins-of-the-earths-atmospheric-hiss-energizing-van-allen-belt-particles-revealed/
Your illustration shows the radiation doses experienced in different parts of the Van Allen belts and indicates a maximum exposure of about 5 rads per 100 seconds in the core of the inner belt. An unprotected human would receive a lethal dose of radiation in about four hours at this level. However, astronauts are well shielded by their spacecraft. In addition, manned orbital flights take place below the inner belt, and flights beyond low orbit pass through the Van Allen belts very quickly. The average skin radiation dose for the Apollo astronauts who traveled through the belts was less than 0.5 rads (there was a small solar flare during Apollo 12, and the average exposure for that mission was 1.14 rads).
http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/books/apollo/S2ch3.htm
http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/books/apollo/Resize-jpg/ts2c3-2.jpg
http://lasp.colorado.edu/strv/vanallen_strv.html
Energy is not actively generated in the belts; the radio-frequency emissions are powered by energy from the sun and from high-altitude lightning discharges.
http://www.universetoday.com/2008/03/06/origins-of-the-earths-atmospheric-hiss-energizing-van-allen-belt-particles-revealed/
Your illustration shows the radiation doses experienced in different parts of the Van Allen belts and indicates a maximum exposure of about 5 rads per 100 seconds in the core of the inner belt. An unprotected human would receive a lethal dose of radiation in about four hours at this level. However, astronauts are well shielded by their spacecraft. In addition, manned orbital flights take place below the inner belt, and flights beyond low orbit pass through the Van Allen belts very quickly. The average skin radiation dose for the Apollo astronauts who traveled through the belts was less than 0.5 rads (there was a small solar flare during Apollo 12, and the average exposure for that mission was 1.14 rads).
http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/books/apollo/S2ch3.htm
| Asker's rating: |
What is the range or volume of the Van Allen belts?
Definition:
Van Allen radiation belts are two belts of radiation outside the earth's atmosphere, extending from c.400 to c.40,000 mi above the earth.
How much radiation:
The radiation dosage per year is about 2500 rem, but the way the particles move in the magnetic field prevents them from hitting the atmosphere.
The astronauts had to go through the Van Allen belt coming too and from earth, but with their protect, they only received as radiation equivalent to what we get from cell phones.
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970228a.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Allen_radiation_belt
Van Allen radiation belts are two belts of radiation outside the earth's atmosphere, extending from c.400 to c.40,000 mi above the earth.
How much radiation:
The radiation dosage per year is about 2500 rem, but the way the particles move in the magnetic field prevents them from hitting the atmosphere.
The astronauts had to go through the Van Allen belt coming too and from earth, but with their protect, they only received as radiation equivalent to what we get from cell phones.
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970228a.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Allen_radiation_belt
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