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From the Discovery of Radiation Belts to Space Weather Perspectives

Commentary of historical events

  • Chapter
Space Storms and Space Weather Hazards

Part of the book series: NATO Science Series ((NAII,volume 38))

Abstract

The discovery of the Radiation Belts by the first American and Soviet spacecraft is recalled. It is shown how different features of this harsh radiation environment were discovered, and disclosed, step by step, as part of a tight race between the Americans and Soviets for space exploration. The discovery of the Radiation Belts was the first major milestone of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) scientific program. The series of statistical radiation belt models developed by NASA from numerous early satellite surveys of the magnetosphere are important assets. The models are used to evaluate the ionizing radiation fluence of future space missions and for instance the risk of Single Event Effects and of other more dramatic failures. These ‘first generation’ empirical models are now considered out of date and, anyway, are unable to describe day-to-day variability of the highly dynamical environment in outer space. It will be a major task for future international space weather programs to produce more comprehensive time dependent predictive models of the ever-changing space environment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut d'Aéronomie Spatiale de Belgique, 3 Avenue Circulaire, 1180, Bruxelles

    Joseph F. Lemaire

  2. Institut G. Lemaître, Université cath. Louvain, 1348, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium

    Joseph F. Lemaire

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  1. Joseph F. Lemaire
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  1. Institute for Space Applications and Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens, Athens, Greece

    I. A. Daglis

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Lemaire, J.F. (2001). From the Discovery of Radiation Belts to Space Weather Perspectives. In: Daglis, I.A. (eds) Space Storms and Space Weather Hazards. NATO Science Series, vol 38. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0983-6_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0983-6_3

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