Since the dawn of the space age, there has been one simple but important rule: stay out of the Van Allen Belts. The Van Allen Belts are two donut-shaped regions around the Earth filled with killer electrons, plasma waves and electrical currents dangerous to humans and spacecrafts. Now NASA has launched two Radiation Belt Storm Probes into the Van Allen Belts to study them.
These probes will help us better understand the belts, and what makes them so dangerous and unpredictable. They are especially dangerous to our satellites, which are used for so many things, from weather forecasting to telecommunications. Getting a better understanding will help us forecast when it is safest for space activity.
This holiday weekend, a rare astronomical phenomenon will occur that will not be seen again until October 2015.
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Kick off the unofficial start to summer at these close-to-home Memorial Day getaways.
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