Van Allen Belts Archives - Universe Today

We Might Have a New Way to Push Back Space Radiation

17 May , 2017 by Matt Williams

A new study has revealed how human activity has been affected the near-space environment, creating a bubble that protects against space radiation.

This is an illustration to explain the dynamics of the ultra-relativistic third Van Allen radiation belt. Credit: Andy Kale

Huge Plasma Tsunamis Hitting Earth Explains Third Van Allen Belt

21 Jun , 2016 by Evan Gough

A transient third Van Allen belt was first observed in 2013, and new research explains how it was formed.

Could We Live on Jupiter?

14 May , 2015 by Fraser Cain

When humans finally travel into space, where will we live? Will we ever be able to colonize gas giants like Jupiter? NASA and Elon Musk have plans to get your ass to Mars. It’s not impossible to imagine humans living and working on the Red Planet. Maybe they’ll be crusty asteroid miners making their fortune […]

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NASA’s Van Allen Probes Spot Impenetrable Radiation Barrier in Space

27 Nov , 2014 by Matt Williams

It’s a well-known fact that Earth’s ozone layer protects us from a great deal of the Sun’s ultra-violet radiation. Were it not for this protective barrier around our planet, chances are our surface would be similar to the rugged and lifeless landscape we observe on Mars. Beyond this barrier lies another – a series of […]

Twin NASA Probes Find “Zebra Stripes” in Earth’s Radiation Belt

19 Mar , 2014 by Jason Major

Earth’s inner radiation belt displays a curiously zebra-esque striped pattern, according to the latest findings from NASA’s twin Van Allen Probes. What’s more, the cause of the striping seems to be the rotation of the Earth itself — something that was previously thought to be impossible. “…it is truly humbling, as a theoretician, to see […]

Speedy Particles Whip At Nearly The Speed Of Light In Earth’s Radiation Belts

4 Dec , 2013 by Elizabeth Howell

The radiation-heavy Van Allen Belts around Earth contain particles that can move at almost the speed of light across vast distances, new research reveals. The information came from an instrument flown aboard the Van Allen Probes twin NASA spacecraft, which launched in 2012. According to scientists, the process that creates this is similar to what […]

Surprising Third Radiation Belt Found Around Earth

28 Feb , 2013 by Nancy Atkinson

In September of 2012, scientists with the newly launched Van Allen Probes got permission to turn on one of their instruments after only three days in space instead of waiting for weeks, as planned. They wanted to turn on the Relativistic Electron Proton Telescope (REPT) so that its observations would overlap with another mission called […]

Radiation Belt Mission Renamed to Honor James Van Allen

9 Nov , 2012 by Nancy Atkinson

The recently launched Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission, which is studying the Van Allen radiation belts, has now been renamed in honor of the late James Van Allen, who discovered the radiation belts encircling Earth in 1958. “James Van Allen was a true pioneer in astrophysics,” said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator for […]

NASA Launches Twin Probes to Study Earth’s Radiation Belts

30 Aug , 2012 by Nancy Atkinson

After nearly a week of weather and technical delays, NASA’s Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) launched in the early morning skies from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 4:05a.m. EDT (08:05 GMT) on Thursday, August 30, 2012. This will be the first twin-spacecraft mission designed to explore our planet’s radiation belts. “Scientists […]

Newsreel Footage of Explorer 1

31 Jan , 2012 by Nancy Atkinson Video

Here’s a blast from the past: 54 years ago on January 31, 1958, Explorer 1 was the first satellite sent into space by the United States. The U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency was directed to launch a satellite following the Soviet Union’s successful Sputnik 1 launch on October 4, 1957. The 13-kg (30-pound) Explorerer satellite […]

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