Van Allen belt and the space missions
The thing, that Explorer I satellite found were the Van Allen radiation belts around the Earth. And that kind of plasma ring is dangerous for the electronics. Even if the Apollo 11 flew across this area, the thing is that the technology of the 1960s was far lasting against the radiation of the plasma ring. The size of modern microchips is so small that the overvoltage causes very easily the short circuit in the small size wires. The computers of the Apollo 11 were made by using separate transistors, and many systems were analog. So that kind of system is less vulnerable in that kind of situation.
The programs that were used were less complicated than the programs of modern artificial intelligence-based systems. Also, digital communication, where the information is sent in as binary numbers is more vulnerable than the analog communication. This means that the loss of one single byte can be devastating for the communication and that can mean that the computer cannot open the message.
Van Allen belt has a great effect on the spacecraft because that thing is the belt of the ionized gas around the planet Earth. Van Allen belt is not a unique thing in the solar system, and also other planets have the plasma belts around them. And those plasma belts are the reason for rings of giant planets.
Plasma belt causes extremely powerful radiation in the spacecraft and that means that the spacecraft would be damaged badly if it would travel in the Van Allen belt, and that thing is one of the most interesting things in space exploration. The thing that the spacecraft, what operates in the radiation zone will need is the electromagnetic system that pushes the ions away from its outer layer.
The plasma layer is the place, which is one of the most hostile places in the known solar system, and that thing is also offering the power source to the spacecraft, which normally operates with the solar panels. The antenna that collects the electricity would just pull in the plasma-layer, and that thing inducts the electricity to the electric circuits of the satellite or some other spacecraft.
That thing allows that the diameter of the satellite can be smaller, and the large size solar panels would be unnecessary. This makes satellite a more difficult target for low-orbiter anti-satellite systems. The problem is that the plasma-layer, as well as solar panels, can create too much power, and that causes overloading of the electric circuits of that spacecraft.
And the thing is that overloading the electric systems is more dangerous in the spacecraft like a satellite than the same phenomenon, what happens on the ground. In normal case, the electric system what faces overload would conduct that electricity to ground. But the thing that the spacecraft must do is do something else with that thing.
One version of the action, what will remove overloading is the high-power radio-impulses, what can target to plasma layer, because of the plasma can absorb that radio signal, and that doesn't cause danger that some high-flying aircraft will face the EMP-strike. The problem with Van Allen Belt is that the plasma is reacting in a magnetic field. And if the polar of the radio-transmitter, what targets to Van Allen Belt is opposite to plasma, that thing can cause that the plasma would touch the spacecraft, and this can cause the failure of electronics.
Source:
Van Allen Belt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Allen_radiation_belt
Explorer I: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorer_1
Comments
Post a Comment