MODELING TRAPPED RADIATION—A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE TERRESTRIAL, JOVIAN, SATURNIAN, URANIAN, AND NEPTUNIAN RADIATION BELTS

Since the discovery of the Earth’s van Allen radiation belts in the first days of the space program, modeling of the trapped radiation environment surrounding the planets has been an important topic of both scientific and... [ view full abstract ]

Since the discovery of the Earth’s van Allen radiation belts in the first days of the space program, modeling of the trapped radiation environment surrounding the planets has been an important topic of both scientific and engineering study. Models of the Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn radiation belts have long helped in the design of the radiation shielding for missions such as Galileo, Juno, and Cassini to these environments.  Although only limited data from the Voyager 2 spacecraft exist for the radiation environments at Uranus and Neptune, models are also in development for these two outer planets.  This paper will compare the predictions of these models with each other and will contrast the results—in particular, while the radiation environments at Uranus and Neptune are mild compared to the other planets, their magnetic fields are significantly offset and interact with the solar wind in potentially complex ways making their definition difficult.  The latest versions of the extra-terrestrial radiation models are discussed and examples of expected mission fluences for missions to each of the outer planets presented.