Van Allen Probes

Author(s): gironde

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The Van Allen Probes (VAP), formerly known as the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP), were two NASA robotic spacecraft that were used to study the Van Allen radiation belts that surround Earth. Understanding the radiation belt environment and its variability has practical applications in the areas of spacecraft operations, spacecraft system design, mission planning and astronaut safety. The probes were launched on a single Atlas V rocket on 2012-Aug-30 and operated for seven years. Both spacecraft were deactivated in 2019 when they ran out of fuel and are are expected to deorbit sometime in the 2030s.

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