Space: Robin Hanson reveals what ‘should scare you’
Earth’s magnetic field has a weak spot “the size of the continental US” that hovers over South America and the South Atlantic Ocean. Scientists say we’re safe from the impact on Earth, but satellites aren’t so lucky – as they pass the anomaly, they’ll be bombarded with radiation “more intense than anywhere else in orbit.” Known as the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), or ‘the Bermuda Triangle of Space’, more informally, the region is at the point where the Earth’s magnetic field is particularly weak.
This means that particles from cosmic sun rays are not blocked to the same extent as elsewhere above the planet.
As a result, solar rays come as close as 200 miles from Earth’s surface – in a series of probes in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO).
John Tarduno, professor of geophysics at the University of Rochester, explained, “I don’t like his nickname, but in that region, the Earth’s lower magnetic field intensity ultimately results in greater vulnerability of satellites to energetic particles, to the point that spacecraft can cause damage. as they traverse the area.
So satellites passing through this area will experience greater amounts of radiation to the point where damage can occur.
The ISS was hit by the radiation (Image: GETTY)
The earth is protected by the magnetic field (Image: GETTY)
“Think of an electrical discharge or arc.
“With more incoming radiation, a satellite can be charged and associated arcs can cause serious damage.”
Normally, the Earth’s magnetic field protects at an altitude between 620 and 60,000 miles above the Earth’s surface.
But the low height of the radiation hotspot puts it in the orbit of certain satellites, which are bombarded by protons that exceed energies of more than 10 million electron volts.
In the early days of the ISS, the anomaly caused astronauts’ computers to crash, forcing space agencies to shut down their onboard systems.
Astronauts were also affected by the SAA.
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Part of the Earth’s magnetic field is weak (Image: GETTY)
Some reported seeing strange white lights flashing before their eyes, and measures have since been taken to protect astronauts.
Strong shielding has been installed over the most frequently occupied areas of the ISS, such as the gallery and sleeping quarters, to reduce the amount of radiation to which the astronauts are exposed.
Astronauts also wear dosimeters, devices that measure their personal exposure to ionizing radiation in real time and issue an alert when they reach dangerous levels.
The Hubble telescope, which passes through the SAA 10 times a day and spends about 15 percent of its time there, cannot collect astronomical data at these times.
Failure to take these measures would likely lead to system failure.
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ISS astronauts felt the effects in the early days (Image: GETTY)
Dr. Tarduno added, “Putting equipment in a ‘safe mode’ limits operations that are more vulnerable to radiation.”
Damage caused by the SAA can also turn out to be very expensive, as was shown when the area sent the Japanese satellite Hitomi to Earth.
Hitomi, or ASTRO-H, was commissioned by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to study extremely energetic processes in the universe.
Just over a month after its launch in February 2016, operators lost contact and the satellite broke into several pieces.
Experts later found that the problem was due to the spacecraft’s inertial reference unit reporting a rotation of 21.7 degrees per hour while the craft was actually stable.
When the attitude control system tried to counteract the nonexistent spider, a sequence of events caused it to break.
Hubble must be turned off while traveling through the anomaly (Image: GETTY)
If the operators could have seen the error in real time, they could have corrected it, but it happened while the satellite was traveling through the SAA, so communication was lost.
The unfortunate saga cost JAXA about $ 273 million (£ 210 million) and three years of prepared studies.
And it could cause more problems in the future.
A recent prediction by NASA scientist Dr. Weijia Kuang and Professor Andrew Tangborn of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, shows that the anomaly is not only moving west but is also increasing in size.
In five years, one area could grow as much as 10 percent compared to 2019 values.
The dent could also split, said Dr. Kuang, or maybe another flaw will emerge independently and bite into it.
Julien Aubert, a researcher at the Paris Institute of Earth Physics, said more research is needed.
She said in January, “Like weather forecasts, you can’t predict the evolution of the core in a few decades.”