Not that kind of donut.
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Earth is surrounded by donut shaped clouds of radiation.
These clouds are made of helium, oxygen and wild protons and electrons.
Radiation happens when those tiny particles start moving really fast.
Space is not empty! It's a crazy environment created by all of the matter and energy the Sun spews out.
Near Earth, that radiation in space can disrupt our technology, communications, such as GPS.
These radiation belts were discovered 61 years ago by the very first satellite America launched
into space, Explorer 1.
The radiation belts were named after the mission's
lead scientist, James Van Allen.
That was the first time that scientists realized that space is
way more complicated than we ever thought.
So NASA has been studying this region ever since,
so we can protect our technology and our astronauts
from these bands of radiation.
In 2012, NASA launched the twin Van Allen Probes to study how
these radiation belts change in intensity, in shape and in size.
The Van Allen Probes lasted three times as long as anyone expected
in this harsh environment. And now we're going into a new orbit
their final swan song before they succumb to orbital drag.
We can't wait to see what discoveries they make before we say goodbye.
That's it for 5 things. Leave your questions and comments in the area below
for the live Q&A session with us.