00:00Many people think the Van Allen Belts are the biggest radiation hazard in space.
00:06That's true, but only for missions in Earth orbit. As soon as we really start thinking about going
00:11to Mars, the situation is completely different. Because the real final boss isn't radiation from
00:16the Van Allen Belts, it's galactic, cosmic radiation and above all solar storms. So what
00:24happens when the sun freaks out? A powerful solar storm can blast massive amounts of energetic
00:29particles into space within minutes. If an extremely powerful solar storm had hit during
00:35Apollo, it really could have turned dangerous. That was always the true residual risk, not the
00:40Belts themselves. Apollo had one thing above all else here. Luck.
