The Earth’s radiation belts

OCT 01, 1966

Belts of charged particles surrounding the earth were a surprising discovery of the early artificial satellites. In eight years much has been learned about their geometry and injection and loss mechanisms, but many questions remain.

DOI: 10.1063/1.3047764

R. Stephen White

EIGHT YEARS of space experimentation have elapsed since James A. Van Allen, George H. Ludwig, Carl E. McIlwain and E. C. Ray discovered the earth’s radiation belts with a Geiger counter on the Explorer 1 satellite. Almost every flight since has offered the opportunity of finding a different particle, a new energy distribution or an unusual space or time variation.

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More about the Authors

R. Stephen White. Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles.