Radiation Hardened Spacecraft

Design Challenge

Videos

Act 1: What is radiation and where does it come from?

The spacecraft you will eventually (virtually) design and build will measure radiation in the Van Allen radiation belts that encircle the Earth. However, do you think radiation exists only in these belts? Certainly not! The next three videos that you will watch prepare you for a journey from Earth through the radiation belts and beyond...to Mars. You will learn some of the basics about radiation and also how spacecraft and astronauts must protect themselves from the radiation in the Van Allen Belts and on other space exploration adventures.

Duration: 11 minutes 06 seconds

Credit: NASA

Don't forget to record answers to questions related to the videos in your Protecting Our Spacecraft worksheet!

Here are some words to know from this video, Act 1:

  • Particle and Electromagnetic Radiation: Two general categories of radiation
  • Ionizing Radiation: High energy radiation that creates ions (harmful to astronauts)
  • Galactic Cosmic Rays: Radiation from outside the solar system
  • Geomagnetically Trapped Radiation: Radiation trapped in Earth's magnetic field
  • Solar Particle Events: Particle storms coming from the Sun
Note that the name of this mission has changed from Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) to the Van Allen Probes.
Previous Next
26.67% Complete