Footage from I.S.S.
Discussion
http://www.space.com/14293-earth-comet-lovejoy-mee...
What interested me about this footage was the incredible number of thunderstorms taking place almost non-stop.
What interested me about this footage was the incredible number of thunderstorms taking place almost non-stop.
They are shielded by the Van Allen belts, are they not?
Plenty of earth orbiting spacecraft have been occupied during solar flare activity before with no obvious problems for the crews. This is the biggest flare in 5 years. The ISS has been up there for 14 years.
Plenty of earth orbiting spacecraft have been occupied during solar flare activity before with no obvious problems for the crews. This is the biggest flare in 5 years. The ISS has been up there for 14 years.
Edited by Eric Mc on Thursday 8th March 14:28
Eric Mc said:
They are shielded by the Van Allen belts, are they not?
Plenty of earth orbiting spacecraft have been occupied during solar flare activity before with no obvious problems for the crews. This is the biggest flare in 5 years. The ISS has been up there for 14 years.
The ISS has its own radiation shielding, which apparently isn't all that great. They're not shielded by the Van Allen belts - they themselves are radiation belts.Plenty of earth orbiting spacecraft have been occupied during solar flare activity before with no obvious problems for the crews. This is the biggest flare in 5 years. The ISS has been up there for 14 years.
Edited by Eric Mc on Thursday 8th March 14:28
Flights have been diverted due to solar activity in the past, last in January, satellites are far more exposed.
Takes for-effing-ever to reply to posts at the moment
I know the Van Allen belts are radition zones. But they are radiation zones because they are the points where the earth's magnetic field captures charged particles from the sun and channels them towards the poles, thereby stoppiong them from impinging directly onto the entire earth.
If you are orbiting below the belts, you are, in effect, also being shielded from the charged particles by the action of the Van Allen belts. You will only have a problem if your orbit takes you through those areas where the radiation is descending towards the poles, which the ISS by and large doesn't do.
The main danger would be from non-charged heavy particles from atomic nuclei - which would sail through the earth's magnetic field completely unaffected.
If you are orbiting below the belts, you are, in effect, also being shielded from the charged particles by the action of the Van Allen belts. You will only have a problem if your orbit takes you through those areas where the radiation is descending towards the poles, which the ISS by and large doesn't do.
The main danger would be from non-charged heavy particles from atomic nuclei - which would sail through the earth's magnetic field completely unaffected.
Eric Mc said:
If you are orbiting below the belts, you are, in effect, also being shielded from the charged particles by the action of the Van Allen belts.
It's the magnetic field rather than the Van Allen belts that protect us, and the magnetosphere it creates when hit by charged particles. Radiation doesn't stop other radiation.Even pilots are subject to more radiation than us on the ground. The ISS has a hardened room for solar storms in the ROS.
rxtx said:
Eric Mc said:
If you are orbiting below the belts, you are, in effect, also being shielded from the charged particles by the action of the Van Allen belts.
It's the magnetic field rather than the Van Allen belts that protect us, and the magnetosphere it creates when hit by charged particles. Radiation doesn't stop other radiation.Even pilots are subject to more radiation than us on the ground. The ISS has a hardened room for solar storms in the ROS.
The Van Allen belts are belts of radiation trapped by the earth's magnetic field. If you orbit below those belts of radiation, you will encounter litle or no further radiation.
I know that the reason why the radiation doesn't get through is not because of the radiation already trapped in the belts. I know it's due to the shielding effect of the magnetic field.
And I also know that the belts were discovered by America's first satellite, Explorer 1 in 1958,
I just thought I'd throw that in.
jbudgie said:
Excuse me --OP here --any comment on the thunderstorms ?
QI clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0aIH5Ne2FEEric Mc said:
As I said, I know all that.
Well it didn't seem like it, because you said "They are shielded by the Van Allen belts, are they not?", but they aren't shielded by the belts, they're shielded by the magnetic field, which the belts are a result of.Alright? Just thought I'd throw that in.
rxtx said:
Eric Mc said:
As I said, I know all that.
Well it didn't seem like it, because you said "They are shielded by the Van Allen belts, are they not?", but they aren't shielded by the belts, they're shielded by the magnetic field, which the belts are a result of.Alright? Just thought I'd throw that in.
Jinx said:
Surely that depends where you are standing?
Quite, stay away from the banana shelf at the supermarket 
Not quite over either,
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/09/solar_stor...
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