Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

ICER · 12-24-2004, 02:53 PM

I know that we are planning to go back to the moon (the debate if we ever did is a topic for an another thread in a different forum) To achieve this. They are building a craft for the trip. My question is, WHY? We already have the lunar lander. Cannot we not use the shuttle to ferry it to and from the moon?

I have done a little research into this. The only reason that was given to me was because of the radiation from the Van Allen belt. Here are the facts about Earths radiation belt

“The Earth has two regions of trapped fast particles. The inner radiation belt discovered by Van Allen is relatively compact, extending perhaps one Earth radius above the equator (1 RE = 6371 km or about 4000 miles). It consists of very energetic protons, a by-product of collisions by cosmic ray ions with atoms of the atmosphere. The number of such ions is relatively small, and the inner belt therefore accumulates slowly, but because trapping near Earth is very stable, rather high intensities are reached, even though their build-up may take years.
Further out is the large region of the ring current, containing ions and electrons of much lower energy (the most energetic among them also known as the "outer radiation belt"). Unlike the inner belt, this population fluctuates widely, rising when magnetic storms inject fresh particles from the tail of the magnetosphere, then gradually falling off again. The ring current energy is mainly carried by the ions, most of which are protons.
However, one also sees in the ring current "alpha particles," atoms of helium which have lost their two electrons, a type of ion that is plentiful in the solar wind. In addition, a certain percentage are O+ oxygen ions, similar to those in the ionosphere of the Earth, though much more energetic. This mixture of ions suggests that ring current particles probably come from more than one source.”

Source of info http://phy6.org/Education/Iradbelt.html

Is this really a factor, cannot the shuttle be shielded the same way the Gemini crafts where? If so, Could the shuttled be use in this way?

12-24-2004, 02:53 PM	#1 (permalink)
ICER Chilled to Perfection Location: Dallas, TX	To the moon alice I know that we are planning to go back to the moon (the debate if we ever did is a topic for an another thread in a different forum) To achieve this. They are building a craft for the trip. My question is, WHY? We already have the lunar lander. Cannot we not use the shuttle to ferry it to and from the moon? I have done a little research into this. The only reason that was given to me was because of the radiation from the Van Allen belt. Here are the facts about Earths radiation belt “The Earth has two regions of trapped fast particles. The inner radiation belt discovered by Van Allen is relatively compact, extending perhaps one Earth radius above the equator (1 RE = 6371 km or about 4000 miles). It consists of very energetic protons, a by-product of collisions by cosmic ray ions with atoms of the atmosphere. The number of such ions is relatively small, and the inner belt therefore accumulates slowly, but because trapping near Earth is very stable, rather high intensities are reached, even though their build-up may take years. Further out is the large region of the ring current, containing ions and electrons of much lower energy (the most energetic among them also known as the "outer radiation belt"). Unlike the inner belt, this population fluctuates widely, rising when magnetic storms inject fresh particles from the tail of the magnetosphere, then gradually falling off again. The ring current energy is mainly carried by the ions, most of which are protons. However, one also sees in the ring current "alpha particles," atoms of helium which have lost their two electrons, a type of ion that is plentiful in the solar wind. In addition, a certain percentage are O+ oxygen ions, similar to those in the ionosphere of the Earth, though much more energetic. This mixture of ions suggests that ring current particles probably come from more than one source.” Source of info http://phy6.org/Education/Iradbelt.html Is this really a factor, cannot the shuttle be shielded the same way the Gemini crafts where? If so, Could the shuttled be use in this way? __________________ What's the difference between congress and a penitentiary? One is filled with tax evaders, blackmailers and threats to society. The other is for housing prisoners. ~~David Letterman