Q&A

Can astronauts go through the Van Allen Belt?

Can astronauts go through the Van Allen Belt?

NASA’s Van Allen Probes orbit through two giant radiation belts that surround Earth. Even if the innermost belt is at its closest, the ISS (and the space shuttle in its day) are more than 100 miles away from the Van Allen Belts. For near-Earth missions, the Van Allen belts are not a hazard to spacefarers.

How high is the space station?

254 mi
International Space Station/Orbit height

What’s new at NASA?

What is Orion? Orion is NASA’s new spacecraft, built to take humans farther into space than they’ve ever gone before. It will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew and provide a safe return to Earth.

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Can you see the flag on the moon with telescope?

Yes, the flag is still on the moon, but you can’t see it using a telescope. The Hubble Space Telescope is only 2.4 meters in diameter – much too small! Resolving the larger lunar rover (which has a length of 3.1 meters) would still require a telescope 75 meters in diameter.

Can humans go to the moon?

Although we haven’t put a human on the lunar surface since the 1970s, there are now regular crewed missions to space.

Why don’t people walk upside-down on the Earth?

Ask an Astronomer Why don’t people walk upside-down on the bottom of the Earth? (Beginner) Remember that the Earth is a sphere, like a giant ball: so there is no “up” or “down”, since a sphere is symmetric. That is, it looks the same no matter what way you look at it.

Why is everything on Earth ‘right-side up’?

This means that wherever you are on the Earth, the force is always “down” into the ground. That’s what keeps everything on Earth “right-side up”, even those in Australia!

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What is the Van Allen barrier in space?

NASA’s Van Allen Probes Spot an Impenetrable Barrier in Space. The Van Allen belts are a collection of charged particles, gathered in place by Earth’s magnetic field. They can wax and wane in response to incoming energy from the sun, sometimes swelling up enough to expose satellites in low-Earth orbit to damaging radiation.

What are the Van Allen radiation belts?

SURROUNDING THE EARTH, beginning at an altitude of 1,000 miles and extending an additional 25,000 miles, lie lethal bands of radiation called the Van Allen Radiation Belts, that would fry on-board instrumentation and sicken any astronauts foolhardy enough to pass throught them.