Things don't change. 50 years ago I chief of NASA Houston's Space Physics Division, responsible for protection of the astronauts from space radiation. First, fission electrons from the Air Force's Project Starfish nuclear explosion at 200 miles altitude produced an artificial Van Allen belt at the altitude of Scott Carpenter's upcoming MA-9 flight. There was a clamor, mostly by people opposed to the manned space program, to cancel the flight. I showed the interaction of the electrons with the atmosphere would reduce their energy to effectively remove the artificial belt. The President's Scientific Advisory Committee (PSAT) agreed and Carpenter flew with no problems. This was before Nixon abolished PSAT. Then solar flare particle events would kill the Apollo astronauts. We installed a 24/7 system of solar optical and radio telescopes to provide warnings of such events. In the event, the Apollo missions were flown in a quiet solar cycle, projections notwithstanding. The major use of the solar watch was to fight off scientists with political influence trying to stop the Apollo missions.
Keep up the good work.
