NASA is sending spacecraft directly into Earth's most dangerous zones

Space · Published 25 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Most space missions treat the Van Allen Belts as a hazard to be avoided. This video explains why NASA is doing the opposite, launching two heavily-shielded probes to study these

The Radiation Belt Storm Probes are a two-year mission designed to explore the Van Allen Belts, two doughnut-shaped regions surrounding Earth. These areas are densely packed with high-energy electrons that can be lethal to standard spacecraft electronics.

By deliberately entering these zones, the probes aim to solve the mystery of the belts' unpredictability. The mission provides a rare opportunity to observe how these radiation environments behave and how they fluctuate over time.

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