To try everything Brilliant has to offer-free-for a full 30 days, visit brilliant.org/DaveMcKeegan . You’ll also get 20% off an annual premium subscription.

I call BS on the whole "it's impossible to land on the sun" thing. You just go at night. Duh.

Fun fact.. they love to cite NASA about VABs but refuse to accept citations from the same source about how they delt with it.

Van Allen. I'm a big fan, I've got all his albums. When he got his first guitar he couldn't afford a strap for it, so he made one out of his belt. That's why his belt's also famous.

The amusing thing is people who talk about the Van Allen belt being dangerous wouldn't even know it exists if it wasn't for people like James Van Allen, and he disagrees with their assumption.

For anyone wanting the short version, once we had invented Van Allen trousers to go with the belts it was no longer an issue.

Fun fact...you can only have belts around a sphere object.

I know it's going off topic, but I just love his dog and how he/she won't let him stop fussing him/her

"nasa lies, except when they say things that benefits my argument" You're so smart flerf, have a cookie 😂

Is it true that the Van Halen belts are full of rock?

As a physicist and a radiation protection certified professional, in my (hopefully never) duties of my microdistrict's radiation protection person: - I'm certified in wartime to get a maximum of 200 mGray in life saving operations - I'm certified to get a maximum of 50 mGray in life saving civilian defence operations - I'm not allowed to go within the 50 µGray/hr limit of a nuclear plant without special dispensation based on my schooling The allowable dose is a slave to the law, but in special conditions a dispensation for the informed and willing personnel can be granted. The Apollo astronaut dose was about 0.4 mGray, nothing to get worked up about as Dave says.

I was literally just watching Joe Rogan talk with a guy named Bart Sibrel 30 seconds ago who is a moon landing denier and was trying to misinterpret someone in 2014 talking about how they couldn’t safely send people through the belts. In reality, the quote was saying their instruments had not been radiation tested yet and for fear of losing on-board instrumentation during flight, they couldn’t send people on the mission until it had been test flighted Edit: <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="758">12:38</a> Could have watched the whole video first before commenting. This clip so easily shows how deniers can misinterpret and get things 180 degrees from the truth of what was actually said

Old soviet joke: Brezhnev summons Soviet cosmonauts and says: “The Americans have landed on the Moon, but we shall show them real power - you will fly to the Sun!” The cosmonauts replies: “But the Sun is very hot, we will burn!” - Do you think the Politburo is stupid?! You'll fly at night!

Flerfers really don't think in 3D

In 1966 the Soviets has also sent a Kosmos-110 spacecraft with two dogs named Veterok and Ugolyok to spend some time in space. The apogee of their orbit was at about 900 km, which means that they've been touching radiation belts. Dogs were returned to Earth and studied. They've not only survived the radiation, but weren't seriously harmed by it. Another independent proof that radiation belts are not an unsolvable problem.

Most people who shout “van Allen belts” don’t know much about it other than “deadly radiation”. If you asked, they couldn’t calculate the radiation exposure per unit time in the belts, nor could they tell you how long it takes to pass through them. They also wouldn’t know that the radiation they experienced for the 20-30 minutes in the belts was actually less than the lunar EVAs themselves.

Those people also probably think asteroid belts look like the ones in Sci-Fi films. 🤦🏻‍♂️

The underlying problem seems to be that all logic and calculations are done using incredibly shallow understandings of the concepts involved. "Radiation is harmful and can kill people." "This thing around the Earth has radiation." Both of these are true facts, and from there it sounds like it makes sense to say "therefore anyone who enters the area around Earth will die to radiation", but when you rely on logic like this, you miss a breathtaking number of details that can vastly change the outcome. "Radiation can kill people." Okay, how much does it take? "This thing around the Earth has radiation." Okay, how much does it have? With nothing but those two questions alone, it's easy to see how the original conclusion could be way off the mark. All it takes is for the first value to be higher than the second value, and you're alive. Then you can do the same with the "Radiation causes damage" amount to see if you're safe from that, too. If you ever want to be someone who knows the real, honest truth of the world, you can't be using logic this shallow to come to conclusions. Math is not some silly tool of pretentious people, it's a critical facet of learning how the world works. When "one number is smaller than another number" is all it takes to undermine your entire logical chain, you have done thinking wrong. You have misthunk. You are having a bad brain problem and you will not learn about space today.

I never doubted the Moon landings, but when I first heard the Van Allen belt question, I was admittedly curious. So, like any normal person, I Googled it, and found out how they dealt with it, and the issue was closed. This is how non-conspiracy kooks do it.

I can remember being at school back in the 1970s where we had 3 boxes with alpha, beta and gamma radiation sources, and the teacher getting us to prove that a sheet of paper stopped the alpha, and a thin sheet of aluminium stopped the beta particles. It's like when flerfs and the like say "do your own research" - well I did.

No one dare enter the Van Halen belts. Eddie will shred anyone like he shreds his righteous solos.

For those interested, here are the words of Dr. James Van Allen himself: "The outbound and inbound trajectories of the Apollo spacecraft cut through the outer portions of the inner belt and because of their high speed spent only about 15 minutes in traversing the region and less than 2 hours in traversing the much less penetrating radiation in the outer radiation belt. The resulting radiation exposure for the round trip was less than 1% of a fatal dosage - a very minor risk among the far greater other risks of such flights. I made such estimates in the early 1960s and so informed NASA engineers who were planning the Apollo flights. These estimates are still reliable. The recent Fox TV show, which I saw, is an ingenious and entertaining assemblage of nonsense. The claim that radiation exposure during the Apollo missions would have been fatal to the astronauts is only one example of such nonsense." Dr. James A. Van Allen.

The Moon landings happened. It disturbs me that some people still use flawed logic ( not understanding basic physics) to explain their views. The Moon videos from (especially Apollo 15, 16 and 17 seem very real and genuine to me.

I think this subject is all the more frustrating because we learned the basics about different types of radation and what can shield against them, along with the damage they'll do to people and so on in standard grade physics (14-15 age range) It's not some mystifying subject that requires further education and the ability to research advanced topics, the basics are so simple.

The vast body of scientific literature on the data and samples from the Apollo moon landings get criminally little attention.

Lead shielding would actually be terrible because it would convert the high energy particle radiation into x-rays, making it far worse for the astronauts.

Please consider doing a video about their claims that propulsion can't happen in the vacuum of space without air to push on.

Moon-landing deniers always cite the Van Allen belts without understanding how they work, or even what they are.

crazy person: "moonlandings never happened" some person: "so you are a flat earther" crazy person: "Listen, I'm crazy but not that crazy, ok?"

My thing with the radiation belts was even if they were as dangerous as people say, we still could have gone to the moon. Even lethal doses of radiation could take days or years to manifest, plenty of time to complete the moon landings. They all knew there was a chance they wouldn't make it back at all, so I don't think it would have stopped them.

The flat earthers talk about the van Allen belts as if they are experts on the subject. And at the same time say space is fake. So where is the container between the ground and 3000 km

My favorite response to the van Allen belts is: The van Allen belts? The things that only real if space is real, the sun not local and the planet a sphere? Are those the ones you are referring as real ?

I’ve heard the reason the 3 astronauts looked so downbeat in their first press interviews was because they didn’t gain super powers from the radiation. Apparently they had already spent a fortune on their “fantastic 3” costumes 🤣

carrying two tortoises? uh oh the flerfs will love that. I'm sure there were 4 elephants as well since they stand on the tortoises back to hold up flat earth.

Ah, the radiation belts. That have been explained time and again. But they just can't figure it out.

There’s a reason flat eathers don’t talk about the specifics, because they know it’s not actually a problem. They just say it’s deadly to pass through and that’s it, it coincides with their religion so they can make a simple statement on faith.

Tangentially, the whole "experts say modern stuff can't do it, how could they have done it back then" argument doesn't realize how resilient more primitive systems actually are.

My dad is working on software they’re using for the Artemis program. He had to fly from Houston to Boston to blast the computers with radiation here in a lab before the launch just to see what the upper limits of the equipment is.

Lead shielding is required against gamma rays and neutron radiation. Those are absent from the Van Allen belts as they can't be affected by a magnetic field. For the Van Allen belts, it charged particle radiation. Those are MUCH easier to shield against. Consumer grade aluminium foil over some thermal insulation and an metallic structure of the Apollo capsules where more than enough.

'Radiation is like Education' is a phrase begging for a pithy punchline, like 'it's meaningless below a certain level', or 'it's only significant if it penetrates'. 'Long term exposure may lead to changes of vision'?

What is lesser known is the belt of noise, this of course is the "Van Halen belt"

I'm so glad you mentioned how it makes no sense for flat earthers to bring up the Van Allen belts! They claim space is fake & that we live under a "firmament" (with a local sun), yet the Van Allen belts, which exist in space, are real? And they believe NASA when it comes to their existence, what they consist of, and the density of the radiation, but nothing else 😂

Why would NASA tell us about the Van Halen belt, if it were impossible to pass through it? They'd instantly put a hole in their own "fakery" by telling us about it.

I want to see the outtakes where the dog is trying to lick your face.

The dosimetry results from the Apollo 11 mission shows that they received a total dose of 0.18 rads which is 1.8 mSv. The statutory limit in the UK for nuclear workers is 20 mSv in any calendar year.

I wish we had conspiracy theorists with more originality. Imagine a Moon landing denialist that thinks the Apollo 11 crew went to Venus. Now THAT would be an interesting conversation.

The main thing I have heard about the Radiation Belts being an issue is that they are a problem for our more modern equipment. The electronics and equipment used nowadays are a bit more sensitive and could be more prone to error cause of the radiation's interference.

It's almost like saying, "Nobody can get to my house, there's a fence around the yard." Well, yes, nobody is running through the fence, but people can still jump over it.

I often see people saying that the temperatures the temperatures in the VAB are tens of thousands degrees and would melt anything trying to pass through it. Of course that's not how temperature works with some alpha and beta particles in the vacuum of space. It would have been nice if that were covered by the video as well. Nevertheless, great video and as usual I learnt quite a few things!

Plus, how could the VAB prove flat earth when it literally requires the planet to be round to work

I'm so glad you're bringing up Scott Manley's excellent video on this topic. He's about the best source of information on these topics and I cheer you for joining him in your own analysis. The van Allen belts are not a major obstacle when leaving lower earth orbit. You checked all the major boxes brief and on point. I left a subscription for you. Looking forward to watching more of your stuff.

The van Allen Belts are flat! No. Wait, er… ;0)

I have a friend who tries to convince me about this radiation BS and how all radiation is bad… he usually does this while on a cell phone talking to me. Irony I know. He doesn’t grasp the concept that light, you know the light that allows us to see is part of the EM spectrum and is radiation. So is heat, we can’t see heat but we feel it. Not all radiation is bad, and some radiation can even pass through us and still not be bad, hell some of this said radiation is essential for life.

Another factor to take into account is that the Moon's orbit around the Earth isn't over the equator, but ~5 degrees from the ecliptic. Meaning, that if you choose your launch date correctly, a 28 degree orbital inclination to the equator is the best option for a Earth-Moon trajectory and prevents having to do a "broken plane" maneuver along the way (And also allowed for the "free return" trajectory used by Apollo 11). This also avoided the worst of the belts. It did, however limit available launch windows. The purpose of Orion is to establish a more permanent presence on the Moon, and such a launch window limitation is less than desirable for this. Thus, it has to be designed to be able to pass a bit deeper into the heart of the belts to increase the flexibility of launch dates.

I guy I used to live with was a moon landing denier but only Apollo 11. He's fine with all the others. 😊

I like how they believe in the van allen belts because they bolster their argument even tbough they cant prove they exist. Let alone how dangerous they are or arent.

You are hands-down the best debunker I have had the pleasure of subscribing to. Everything perfectly explained with nothing left to question. Please don't stop doing what you're doing.

The greatest radiation danger for the Apollo astronauts would have been a large solar flare or coronal mass ejection directed towards the Earth and Moon. They would have received high (possibly lethal) radiation doses from that. Pointing the service module towards the Sun would have given maximum shielding, but it might have been too little.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for finally bringing up the inclination to go over the belts. So many debunkers just lean on the short duration and shielding. Very few note that you can just go over or under them!

Holy cripes, your moon landing videos draw out more nutters than your flat earth ones.

Thought this was about Van Halen 🎸😂

Why do they always bring it up like its some kind of death ray that vaporises anyone that goes through it? It's frustrating because i want to see the whole world get educated and achieve great things but everyone's just getting more dumb

Van Allen belts are only dangerous if they catch on fire, but we can shoot missiles at them to fix it. "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" is a fun movie!

I always have to bang my head on the table whenever someone brings up the need for lead shielding to pass through the VA Belts. The radiation in the VA Belts is charged particle radiation, both electrons and protons and high energy charged particles entering a heavy metal such as lead create Bremsstrahlung or "braking radiation" because the large metal nuclei deflect the particles negatively accelerating them, making them expend that energy as electromagnetic radiation. Using lead to shield the CSM would be one of the worst things you could do. The best shielding would be water, followed by heavy polymers and light metals, exactly what the hull of the CSM was made from. Also, the number of people who think the crew passed through the VA Belts inside the LM is patently ridiculous. They were of course in the Command Module, not the Landing Module.

This was interesting and informative, that was literally the only question I had left about the moon landing the rest is provable already, Got me convinced

One more minor point on safety and testing of the Orion: during the Apollo program, OSHA didn't have any regulations regarding maximum radiation exposure that applied to astronauts. Now, they do, so if NASA didn't test this, they'd be opening themselves up to liability.

Mate, just to clarify, our (nuclear industry workers) allowed annual dose is quarter of regular civilian’s annual safe dose. I won’t go into a total exposure vs single exposure levels, the point is, we have to deal with regular background, plus our work. So, my final point is, the vanAllen belt dose is so pitiful it is barely worth a fuss flerfs are making.

This was well researched and presented. Brilliant!

Your segues into the sponsor reads have been really smooth lately 😆 Thanks for making these videos!

Its almost like they planned this, and took these things into account, and planned for them, not literally flying by the seat of their pants.... weird...

The thing with flerfs, the inability to think in three dimensions, perhaps explains their lack of imagination when it comes to scale.

I think it's interesting how Dave's channel went from photography to debunks! I also learn something new every video as Dave just presents the facts and the science behind them and doesn't resort to condescending insults!

It won’t matter, these people have to feel special about knowing something that no one else does, whether it’s true or not.

Professor Van Allen and his assistants built Explorer I on tables in the hallway of McLean Hall at the University of Iowa. My Dad worked at a paint store a few blocks away and sold him sheets of linoleum to cover the tabletops.

They deny the existence of space but believe in the Van Allen Belt?

Can we just appreciate Dave’s sponsor transitions for a sec

I didn't know anything about the van alan belt (probably spelt it wrong) but the explanation you give make sense. Won't make a difference to the FE crew, though. Some people can't cope with reality. Ive been there, its not easy to escape from (denial, not the van alan belt😂). Love your videos because they are full of common sense, again, something i lack.😅

the ultimate irony: "Flet Urth" is a global movement.

It would be odd to find a flat earther who wasn’t a moon landing denier. But people are strange creatures, so this person probably exists.

This reminds me of so many examples of things which were once thought impossible. Breaking the sound "barrier" or a human running a mile in less than 4 minutes. If your only "evidence" for something being impossible is that someone, or even many, at some point in the past claimed it was impossible, then your argument is quite weak. My recollection for the first time I heard about the Van Allen Belts was that it was a known risk that was of not entirely known magnitude since we did not at that time have fleets of satellites out there measuring them.

Closing statement so true. How do Flatties know the belts exist?

So glad you touched on the different forms of radiation. Most folks just assume, "Oooo radiation. You need LEAD to be safe from that!". The very fact that the Van Allen belts are formed interacting with the earth's magnetic field proves it is a form of charged particles. And charged particle radiation is shielded against by different shielding. Simple aluminum sheathing works very well. Of course there's a bit more to it than just wrapping things in 'tin foil', but it's not as hard as deniers seem to think.

Well done. I learned a couple of things I didn't alredy know.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="577">9:37</a> what about the ice wall?? Surely it would crash in to the massive ice wall nobody has images of

It doesn't matter how hard you disprove Flat Earth, people will still actively deny logical conclusions because they've decided that anything else is false, regardless of scientific basis or no. Heck, just the word "science" is scoffed at, even though it just describes a methodology of testing ideas. "Science" to a flat earther is like "woke" to a republican. The word has lost all meaning, and is seen as anti-whatever they believe in.

i remember as a kid, the PG Tips 'The race into space' back in 1971 and that talked about the VA belts plus a nice image of Explorer1 and also the Zond spacecraft.

As a person who has a small collection of radioactive clocks (and other things) it’s great seeing the look on peoples faces when you bring a Geiger counter near them: the needle rises up and makes hundreds of clicks a second and they think your insane and that your arm will drop off in a week. Of course, in the grand scheme of things the level of radiation they emit is minute (not that you would want them strapped to your body for days on end). And thanks to shielding, distance (they’re in the shed) due to inverse square law and time it’s hardly an issue.

If you ever wanna read comments from flat earth lunatics, just sort by "Newest first." Enjoy.

Well it’s a “belt” that could be a clue, also it has thinner parts. Do people really think they have to fly right through the middle of it only??

Thank you for the very informative crash course on this. I keep hearing the belt thrown in conversations but never really knew what it was.

The internet badly needed this video... and unfortunately it will probably take many more

I always laugh at this "argument"... They: NASA lies! Don't trust them! Also they: Van Allen belts? Yes, they do exist... No, people can't pass that! NASA said so... Wait... What!? There's no end to the cherry picking... 😂

Apollo did have a giant 11 meter radiation shield strapped to their ass called the "Service Module" In addition they were surrounded by life support equipment between the astronaut and the outer space. Only the windows would be the thinnest part.

I went to Van Allen elementary school in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. He’s related to us on my moms side of the family. I forget how now, but still kinda cool.

Well done, sir. Saved this video for future discussions.

Moon Landing Deniers: You can't get to the Moon because of the impenetrable Van Allen Belts. Scientists: Well, they're not *that* dangerous. You see... MLD: Impenetrable Van Allen Belts Scientists: Plus the capsule is shielded, so the actual exposure... MLD: Impenetrable Scientists: And we also have the option of flying around... MLD: IM-PEN-E-TRA-BLE!!!

One problem is. it´s not that complicated to check where a signal comes from. So why didn´t Sovjetunion tell the world. that the signal originated from the earth. not the moon.

And another thing about the Moon Landings and the Radiation problem, The time of the Moon landing Happened when the Sun was in Solar Minimum, So the solar wind and charged partials were at the lowest the sun was putting out. So even on the Moon those Solar Winds and partials could not effect the Astronauts since they stayed there for a short time and the shielding of the Moon Lander and their space suits was enough protection for that time spent there.

Flerfs and Apollo missions deniers: trusting science when asserting the existence of a radiation belt, distrusting science when it is asserted that the radiation exposure from it is negligible .

hey dave! i think you'd like to know that im currently in flatzoids stream, and i was trying to debunk their arguments as they go. despite me never getting rude or calling them names, i got muted by a moderator