Initial efforts to clear the Van Allen belts targeted electrons because they tend to get trapped there as the result of high-altitude nuclear explosions. In 1962, a U.S. high-altitude nuclear weapons test named Starfish Prime generated a highly energetic artificial electron belt that disabled the first commercial communications satellite, TelStar 1, so researchers sought ways to protect spacecraft from nuclear weapons used in space.
However, it’s the protons in the inner belt that scientists have recently explored. Getting rid of them would potentially open up valuable new orbits for satellites and make travel safer for astronauts, says Maria de Soria-Santacruz Pich, whose Ph.D. work at MIT was on manipulating the Van Allen belts. It might also be impossible.
This is ridiculous. Why dont we solve our problems in our back yard before we go messing with God’s universe.
Remember when we messed around with the Van Allen Belt in the 60s. Irwin Allen made a movie about it and turned it into a TV series. “Voyage to the Bottom Of The Sea.” We set the Belt on fire.
That was the plot to the pilot movie “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea’..................
WTF - the Van Allen belts are what protects the Earth from cosmic radiation that would kill life on Earth. We wipe out the Van Allen Belts and we wipe out life on Earth.
Isn’t that just like arrogant leftists? They dont’ fully understand something so their first instinct is to write it off as useless and try to destroy it.
What’s the reason for the van Allen belts? Do they provide the Earth with some kind of protection from cosmic radiation? Why fool around with it?
“Wormwood calling ...”
“safer” for Astronauts?
Did we not already send Astronauts through these belts?
Or was that a total fake-out.
When I get rid of my belt, there are unintended consequences.
Maybe Pol Pot was onto something with killing intellectuals.
We’re locked into the conditions of that V. Belt.
I don’t think we earthwalkers can just clap our hands and “get rid of it”.
Well, the article is from 2014, so did it work?
Much of the Van Allen belts pre-existed any nuclear tests and are there TO PROTECT US FROM SPACE RADIATION.
The total lack of ignorance and ethics in our “scientific” community is just astounding any more. We’ve seen in in human research, vaccines, bringing creatures and worms back to life etc and now this. Just because we can or might be able to do something doesn’t mean we should.
Why not? Carbon-based life forms are already calling to eliminate carbon, so what the hell.
“...wiping out the Van Allen belts...” Probably be able to put some mirrors up at the same time to help block/reflect some of those evil sun rays from reaching muvver erf! What a brilliant plan eh? NOT! ATTENTION SHOPPERS! COMMON SENSE IS ON BACK ORDER! 🧐🎆🚫
We have thought that all of those old movies and TV programs about mad scientists trying to destroy the world were just entertainment.
THEY WERE WARNINGS!
MAD SCIENTISTS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE WORLD AND ARE INTENT ON DESTROYING IT!
See SkyNet...
Yoh notice how you only ever hear about the dreaded Van Allen Belts when it pertains to moon landing hoaxers?
Captain Crane and Admiral Nelson blasted that away in the early 60s