David Vance SubstackRead More
Lots of media attention today on the planned SpaceX’s private Polaris Dawn mission. There is one specific aspect of this flight that I wanted to draw to your attention too and that is the “ dangerous Van Allen Belts.” The Media reports…
Over the course of five days as it flies at this record altitude, the SpaceX Dragon Resilience capsule carrying the crew members will pass through the inner Van Allen radiation belt, one of two donut-shaped swaths of highly energetic particles from the sun that are magnetically trapped around Earth. The belts, which shield our planet and its atmosphere from billions of such fast-moving particles, are the strongest over the equator and effectively non-existent over the poles.
In addition…
The SpaceX crew capsule has undergone rigorous testing to ensure its avionics don’t fry from the harsh radiation, which would otherwise deprive the crewmembers of crucial navigation and communication capabilities.
I just have one question – why is all this “testing” necessary?
After all, didn’t all those Apollo spacecraft with their wafer thin tinfoil exterior and minimal interior protection for astronauts plough RIGHT THROUGH the Van Allen belts to get to the moon? From 1969 to 1972, we are told NASA had all the tech required to successfully navigate through the inner and outer Van Allen belts and get those astronauts safely to the Moon and back without any harmful radiation dosages. Quite the feat.
Seems a bit weird that this Polaris Dawn flight is being presented almost as if this was the first time human beings were entering any part of the Van Allen belts! Don’t forget the INNER Van Allen belt extends from 620 miles to 7200 miles above the Earth and the OUTER Van Allen belt extends 8100 miles to 37,000 miles beyond the Earth. Between 1969 and 1972 US Astronauts effortlessly travelled through this extremely radioactive space with zero harm to the inhabitants of those craft , allegedly.
Now, in 2024, for some odd reason, mankind is back to see what happens in the Inner Belt. If I were a cynic….
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