• Question: How did the early astronauts survive going through the van allen belt of radiation when only protection was lead lining

    Asked by purplewolf9 to Andrew, Emma, Marianne on 16 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Marianne Baker

      Marianne Baker answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      I’ve never studied this kind of thing, I haven’t done physics since AS level! So I can’t really help you on that one I’m afraid 🙂

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      Purple wolf. I never expected you to be a conspiracy theorist. I think you know what answer to expect to this question as you’re obviously quite knowledgable about the subject already. Can I take this to mean that you think the moon landings were faked?

      “The recent Fox TV show, which I saw, is an ingenious and entertaining assemblage of nonsense. The claim that radiation exposure during the Apollo missions would have been fatal to the astronauts is only one example of such nonsense.” — Dr. James Van Allen

      Suggest this site here for any students interested in your clever little jibe (I liked it, but it’s quite nerdy!)
      http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970228a.html

    • Photo: Andrew Maynard

      Andrew Maynard answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      Hi purplewolf9,

      I don’t have all the information at my fingertips on this one, but here’s some information which might be useful:

      Only the high energy particles in the van Allen belt will have been able to penetrate the space craft and penetrate into the astronaut’s bodies

      The body can tolerate a certain amount of radiation before it becomes very dangerous – which is why people can have X-rays without getting sick

      The astronauts would have only been in the van Allen belt for a relatively small amount of time.

      The question therefore is, when the were traveling through the belt, did they absorb enough radiation to cause them serious harm?

      The fact that most of the early astronauts got back safely and continued to live healthy lives suggests that the doses they received weren’t too damaging. But I don’t know how high they were.

      Sounds like something worth trying to find out though.

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