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Van Allen belt exposure

Radiation exposure through the Van Allen belts was managed by trajectory planning and brief transit times.

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Jan 13, 2026
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Can current spacecraft electronics survive the radiation levels in the Van Allen belts without shielding?

Current spacecraft electronics can and do survive extended exposure inside the Van Allen radiation belts, but only when systems are designed and operated with radiation-hardened components, engineerin...

Jan 8, 2026

Have humans or probes passed through the Van Allen belts before, and what protections were used?

Yes — both human crews and robotic probes have traversed the Van Allen radiation belts: Apollo astronauts traveled through them on missions to the Moon and scientific spacecraft have repeatedly sample...