Van Allen Radiation Belts--Get Your Story Straight!

PopSci illustration of trajectory to the moon.  This is denied by Apollo astronauts.

Earth’s radiation belts versus science media.

Ever nice NASA launched Explorer 1 into space in 1958 and proved that Earth did have a magnetosphere to protect from deep space radiation and solar winds, it has remained bound in conflicting ideas and evidence.  One side says it is an impediment to space travel unless measures are taken to properly shield space vehicles and crews; the other side (mostly 1960’s astronauts) says there is little harm from trapped radiation in the belts.  A third group, the moon hoaxers, suggest that the easy passage of Apollo crews with minimal shielding is evidence one of many elements of a hoax. 

It doesn’t help matters that science web sites post conflicting statements regarding this issue.

Take this example in a Space.com article by Elizabeth Howell entitled, Van Allen Radiation Belts: Facts & Findings:

The astronauts on the ISS do not regularly spend time inside the belts, but from time to time solar storms expand the belts to the orbit of the space station. In the 1960s, several Apollo crews went through the Van Allen belts on their way to and from the moon. Their time in that radiation-intensive region, however, was very short, in part because the trajectory was designed to pass through the thinnest known parts. With more study, astronauts can be better protected for long-term stays in Earth orbit.

Now examine the following statement by Frank Borman, commander of Apollo 8, in his book Countdown:

“Slightly less than five hours after lift-off, we passed through the Van Allen radiation belt, and Anders transmitted our personal radiation dosimeter (PDR) readings.  Even in the thickest part of the belt, they showed we were receiving about the same dosage we’d get from a chest x-ray.  So much for the dire predictions some scientists had made about harmful, perhaps fatal, exposure to the belt.”

Because of this example, Howell has called Borman a liar in her article.  He is clearly stating that they went straight through the radiation belts in an apparent straight line and in the thickest (densest) part as well, with minimal radiation exposure.  No fancy flying was done to get to the moon!  Borman also got a mild dig in at Dr. James Van Allen, the discoverer of the belts, who was a leading proponent of health hazards while traversing the magnetosphere.

(Also mentioned in Apollo 8, Borman, Kluger, p. 186-187.)  

It should be noted that this issue with trajectory, as seen in the illustration from popsci.com above, showing an elliptical path to avoid the more dangerous areas of the belts, is common among science news web sites.  And once again, contradicts the experiences of the astronauts as described by Frank Borman.  In the books by the other Apollo astronauts describing their journeys (Armstrong, Borman, Collins, Cernon, Lovell, Shepard), the Van Allen Belts are rarely mentioned, and if so, never in context with their experiences of space travel.  The same applies to the voice transcripts available at NASA.gov. 

It is worth noting that the Apollo astronauts were not the first to pass into the Van Allen belts.  The Gemini astronauts also traveled into the belts in 1966.  Michael Collins in his book Catching the Fire, flew in Gemini 10 and writes of achieving a record altitude of 475 miles.  That puts him and fellow astronaut John Young well within the first belt.  Any radiation exposure problems?  No.  And they were followed up by Gemini 11 (Pete Conrad & Richard Gordon Jr.) in the same year, with an altitude of 850 miles.  Even deeper into the Van Allen belts.  No radiation issues with them either.

In Summary

It seems that the issue of the Van Allen radiation belts is a muddy mess to wade through.  It involves constantly changing data and conflicts between what is really out there and the personal effects on the astronauts.  Pursuing space research on these issues is difficult due to a consensus on the exact nature of the data. There are conflicts involving the size and depth of the radiation belts, the exact distance between the moon and the earth, the precise surface temperatures on the moon and so on. 

The astronauts, both Gemini and Apollo, experienced no ill effects when passing thru the belts. There is no need for the elliptical trajectory in the illustration above and the there is no documentation of them doing this, nor do the astronauts state in their books that they completed a trajectory like this.  They speak of the “free return trajectory” where they complete several orbits and then fire the remaining booster for a final burn to escape the earth’s gravity to slingshot their way to moon.  Free, as using no fuel for the cislunar flight path.  It’s a beeline.  This is very important because if the burn does not provide enough escape velocity, they sling off into space and miss the moon.

If what Frank Borman said is true, the dangers of the radiation belts are vastly over rated.  Just a chest x-ray, albeit one that lasts for two hours.  Make that two x-rays since they had to pass back through them on the way back home. Future astronauts will wear a vest to protect them radiation exposure.  Interesting that the astronauts of the 1960’s didn’t need one.

The Orion project for travel to the moon and beyond, is a reengineering of the Apollo hardware since most the technology has been lost, erased or destroyed, which is a great mystery unto itself.   

Sources

Van Allen radiation belts article at Space.com

https://www.space.com/33948-van-allen-radiation-belts.html

Likewise at Popular Science:

https://www.popsci.com/blog-network/vintage-space/apollo-rocketed-through-van-allen-belts#page-3

Michael Collins, Carrying The Fire, p. 216

Frank Borman, Countdown, p. 203-204

Apollo 8, Frank Borman with Jeffrey Kluger, p. 186-187.

NASA Document Implies No Go To Moon

The curious chart found on the NASA Technical Report Server.

(Updated at:  https://georgebailey.substack.com/p/nasa-document-implies-no-go-to-moon)

A curious chart found on the NASA Technical Report Server.

NASA’s server for technical reports sounds intimidating for us non astrophysics types but it really is not.  Many documents are plans, projections, histories and so on.  There are of course, the heavy mathematical documents but one can skim thru them to understand the overall concepts being presented.  Well, what you suss out what the acronyms all mean.  If you are a space flight researcher, it is a site to visit often.  Surprises abound.

Space exploration has always been dogged by one major restraint—radiation.  Radiation makes all of space a giant toxic zone that goes on forever.  Even the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) has to work around the dangers of radiation in low earth orbit (LEO) when they have laptops that need to be rebooted and cameras that fail from radiation damage.

But even the radiation experienced in LEO aboard the ISS is low compared to venturing farther out in space.  The first hurdle for traveling to the moon is the Van Allen radiation belts, discovered by Dr. James Van Allen in 1958, is the earth’s force field from the incoming toxic soup of charged particles and trapped within the donut shape of the field.  The two belts start at about 400 miles from the earth and extend to over 36,000 miles.  Most science sites, such as Popular Science and others, state that to pass through this hazardous zone the Apollo spacecrafts used a trajectory that allowed them to pass thru the thinner parts of the belts.  Sort of an arch instead of a straight line.  That method is not mentioned in any of the astronaut’s books and certainly was not a viable action for Apollo 13 in its crisis situation with its limited fuel.   

The trajectories from the earth and to the moon are called “free return trajectories” and also known as a “slingshot.”   They use the gravitational field and a burn to slingshot to the target, in this case the moon and vise-versa. The limited fuel capacity is not there for any fancy maneuvering.  

Mission Dose Chart

While researching radiation exposure in space and the lunar voyages I came across the, “Space Radiation Cancer Risk Projections and Uncertainties – 2010,” found on the NASA Technical Report Server.  It features a large amount of data on how radiation effects internal organs, cancer risks, male and female dose variations and so on.  Important information to know for future space missions.

On page 28 one can see the chart posted above.  It charts the amount of radiation exposure for all of NASA’s manned missions from  Mercury to the ISS.  Notice where Apollo is placed—right beside the Space Shuttle in the middle of the chart!  It is well known that the highest radiation levels are passing thru the Van Allen radiation belts, solar radiation in cislunar space and lastly, the nuclear hazard zone of the moon.  The Shuttle never left low earth orbit.  If Apollo traveled to and landed on the moon, it should be listed at the top of the chart.  Instead, the International Space Station, the  Russian Mir and Skylab are.  They are equating the sum of Apollo’s moon journeys to only the radiation exposure one would experience in low earth orbit.  How can this be?

Or rather, how could NASA allow these learned authors of this report,  publish something like this?

In Closing

The Apollo moon missions traveled the farthest out.  They went beyond the earth’s protective magnetosphere where the deadliest radiation from cosmic rays, gamma rays, x-rays and so forth exist.  If they completed the moon missions then their radiation protection in the space crafts to the space suits, with this low of an exposure rate, must have been constructed of some classified technology never shared with the public.  Or else, they did not complete the missions as presented to the public.

Once again, NASA is making the impossible, seem possible.  And that is what wizards do.

Addendum, 9-5-18

Actually, the flights of Gemini should have been higher on the chart as well.  According to Micheal Collins in is book, Catching The Fire, page 261, Gemini flight 11 reached a record altitude of 875 miles above earth in 1966.  Collins, along with John Young in their Gemini 10 flight, set the previous record of 475 miles.  Which would place both missions in the lower rung of the Van Allen belts.  There is no report of radiation sickness at these altitudes despite being in the belts.  The highest Space Shuttle flight occurred in 1990, STS-31 at an altitude of 380 nautical miles.  There are stories of the crew getting mild radiation sickness but have not been able to verify this event.

Addendum, 8-15-18

Researcher Randy Walsh in his book The Apollo Moon Missions, on page 144 states that astronaut dosimeter readings are averages, with the specific readings classified. Maybe because they never went into cislunar space?  (Please note the author does not source this allegation.)

Sources

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/

Space Radiation Cancer Risk Projections and Uncertainties – 2010

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20130001648.pdf