The Van Allen Belts Are Lethal, This Is How Astronauts Fly Through Them

The radioactive Van Allen belts posed a serious challenge for space travel. NASA had to figure out a way for astronauts to fly through them without being exposed to deadly doses of radiation. To learn more about NASA's Van Allen belt calculations, check out these links: https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/earth/3Page7.pdf https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/tnD7080RadProtect.pdf Read More: The 12 Greatest Challenges For Space Exploration https://www.wired.com/2016/02/space-is-cold-vast-and-deadly-humans-will-explore “It’s a huge, dangerous, maybe impossible project. But that’s never stopped humans from bloody-mindedly trying anyway.” Studying the Van Allen Belts 60 Years After America’s First Spacecraft https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/studying-the-van-allen-belts-60-years “Sixty years ago today, the United States launched its first satellite into space. Dubbed Explorer 1, the spacecraft followed just months after the Soviet Union’s Sputnik 1 and 2 spacecraft commenced the Space Age. Data captured by the Geiger counter aboard Explorer 1 heralded the emergence of space physics and ushered in a new era of technology and communications.” 6 Surprising Facts About the First Manned Space Mission https://www.livescience.com/33185-yuri-gagarin-vostok-1-faq-facts.html “Reaching unprecedented speeds for manned travel, the spacecraft broke free of the Earth's gravitational pull and entered orbit around the planet, circling once before re-entering the atmosphere and landing back on Soviet soil.”