NASA Probing Secrets of Van Allen Radiation Belt
- By George Putic
One of the first discoveries of the space age, made in 1958, was that the Earth is surrounded with a doughnut-shaped field of highly charged particles. It was named the Van Allen radiation belt, after its discoverer, U.S. space scientist James Van Allen. But not much was known about it until NASA launched two probes in 2012. Scientists say the data they sent back to earth is very exciting. VOA’s George Putic reports.