For #askextremeross today, I’m answering @lo_muller who asked “Do you have solar radiation issues at that altitude?”
While rarely affecting missions, space radiation, and particularly solar radiation, are something that we have to pay attention to. At the altitudes we’re at, 90% of the atmospheric mass is below us. It’s still a long ways to technically space at 60 miles, but there’s not much above. That means there’s a lot less stuff to stop harmful galactic cosmic radiation (which is happening all the time) and solar radiation (which we can have some level of warning).
If the sun decides to blast a huge chunk of hydrogen protons at the Earth, we can see it before the protons get here. Depending on how bad it is, we assess the risk, and then make a decision about the mission. There are radiation monitors as well to track our total radiation exposure.
Thanks for the questions. Keep them coming.
