How do spaceships on there way to the moon surpass the Van Allen belt?

Question

Please don't misunderstand me;I'm not suggesting that the moon landing was a hoax,I believe it happened,but I have never been able to answer that question when engaged in debate with those who doubt the veracity of the moon landing.

Well,what I was really wondering was how anything can penetrate the belt;The arguement that I have been given is that even a nuclear bomb cannot penetrate it.

Answer 1

Well, most of the radiation is in the form of alpha and beta particles, which can be easily protected from (only about a couple millimeter thick lead is required to shield it), there are also energetic protons. Also, the Astronauts spent very little time in the belt and got a small, non-serious dose of radiation.

Besides, people who smoke inhale alpha particles from the cigarettes.

Now it would be a different story if the radiation was gamma ray photons....


EDIT: The radiation belt isn't some solid ring around Earth that nothing can pass through, it is just radiation being bent into the shape it is by the Earth's magnetic field.

Answer 2

The existence of the Van Allen radiation belts postulated in the 1940s by Nicholas Christofilos. Their existence was confirmed in *1958* by the Explorer I satellite launched by the USA.

The radiation in the Van Allen radiation belts is not particularly strong. You would have to hang out there for a week or so in order to get radiation sickness. And, because the radiation is not particularly strong, a few millimeters of metal is all that is required for protection. "An object satellite shielded by 3 mm of aluminum will receive about 2500 rem (25 Sv) per *year*."

"In practice, Apollo astronauts who travelled to the moon spent very little time in the belts and received a harmless dose. [6]. Nevertheless NASA deliberately timed Apollo launches, and used lunar transfer orbits that only skirted the edge of the belt over the equator to minimise the radiation." When the astronauts returned to Earth, their dosimeters showed that they had received about as much radiation as a couple of medical X-rays.

Answer 3

The Apollo spacecraft passed through the Van Allen belt quite quickly, so that in the short time they were exposed, the astronauts did not receive a dose of radiation considered dangerous, at least not compared to the inevitable other risks in the mission. People who do not wear their seatbelts while driving are taking a far greater risk of damaging themselves than people who spend a minute or two in an area populated with high-energy protons, particularly if you are wearing a suit designed to minimize their effect on you!

Answer 4

The Apollo spacecraft traveled through the belts pretty quickly, getting past them in an hour or so. There simply wasn't enough time to get a lethal dose, and, as a matter of fact, the metal hull of the spaceship did indeed block most of the radiation.

I strongly recommend the following website where ALL the nonsense "proofs" that the manned lunar landings (,,all seven of 'em...) were faked get totally debunked ==>http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html#radiation

Answer 5

The space vehicles do not surpass the Van Allen Radiaton Belt. They go right through it and at the velocity of around 25,000 MPH it does not take long enough to pass through it for there to be any significant radiation effects on the crew.
This is discussed more completely by Phill Plait at his excellent www.badastronomy.com

Answer 6

IT'S NOT THAT KIND OF BELT!!! The shuttles blast right through it with no effect whatever. And we did go to the moon!
Our flag, the lunar rover, the lander's take-off pad, a golf ball, and maybe a bag of trash is still there.

Answer 7

Inside the spaceship, the astronauts are shielded from the radiation from the sun. When they flew through and past the radiation belts, they were protected - it was no big deal.

Answer 8

the stay out of the more dangerous inner radiation belt. see here

http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wradbelt.html