GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Van Allen radiation belt, doughnut-shaped zones of highly energetic charged particles trapped at high altitudes in the magnetic field of Earth. The zones were named for James A. Van Allen, the American physicist who discovered them in 1958, using data transmitted by the U.S. Explorer satellite.

Detailed explanation-2: -A Van Allen radiation belt is a zone of energetic charged particles, most of which originate from the solar wind, that are captured by and held around a planet by that planet’s magnetosphere. Earth has two such belts, and sometimes others may be temporarily created.

Detailed explanation-3: -The innermost Van Allen belt sits somewhere between 400 to 6, 000 miles above the surface of our planet. 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.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Van Allen Radiation Belts are one part of Earth’s dynamic magnetic environment, known as the magnetosphere. During periods of intense space weather, the density and energy of radiation belt particles can increase and pose a danger to astronauts, spacecraft, and even technologies on the ground.

Detailed explanation-5: -These belts are found in the inner part of the Earth’s magnetosphere.