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Van Allen Belts

Total questions: 11

Worksheet time: 6mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

When were the Van Allen Belts discovered?

a)

1945

b)

1958

c)

1972

d)

2012

2.

How many belts are there?

a)

1

b)

2

c)

2 or 3 depending on the situation

d)

4

3.

How do the Van Allen belts protect life on earth?

a)

deflect high energy radiation

b)

reduce the greenhouse effect

c)

increase solar energy

d)

block black body radiation

4.

Why do astronauts want to stay out of the Van Allen Belts?

a)

they don't.

b)

they contain high energy particles

c)

nuclear decay is occuring

d)

the radiation will poison their food

5.

The launch of what led to the discovery of the belts?

a)

Space Shuttle - American Girl

b)

Apollo 13

c)

Apollo 1

d)

Explorer 1

6.

What was Explorer 1?

a)

space probe

b)

space station

c)

satellite

d)

nuclear arsenal

7.

What was in the Explorer 1 that detected the belts?

a)

tape recorder

b)

geiger counter and tape recorder

c)

electroscope

d)

magnetoprobe

8.

On occasion, the International Space Station is engulfed in one of the belts. Why is this a problem?

a)

radiation exposure for humans is cumulative

b)

radiation is hard on electronic devices

c)

it slows the rate of orbit

d)

the tools become radioactive

9.

What is the van Allen belt made up of?

a)

protons

b)

electrons

c)

protons and electrons

d)

solar wind

10.

The moon falls within the van Allen belts.

a)

True

b)

False

11.

During the Apollo missions, NASA calculated that astronauts would be in the belt for 52 minutes with an exposure of 13 rads. What must a rad be a unit of?

a)

space time

b)

radiation exposure

c)

energy absorption

d)

solarity