Is the ISS in danger of the outer radiation belt? I know that the ISS is in the low earth orbit and that it briefly passes through the base of the outer RB, but it is actually in danger? How does the South Atlantic Anomaly contributes to the damage caused by the outer RB ?
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1I think you got the distances wrong. ISS is in a 400km orbit, the outer radiation belt starts at 16000km. – asdfex Dec 30 '18 at 18:36
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The inner Van Allen radiation belt "extends typically from an altitude of 0.2 to 2 Earth radii (L values of 1 to 3) or 1,000 km (620 mi) to 6,000 km (3,700 mi) above the Earth.[2][9] In certain cases when solar activity is stronger or in geographical areas such as the South Atlantic Anomaly, the inner boundary may decline to roughly 200 kilometers above the Earth's surface" So at the South Atlantic Anomaly, the inner belt may be a problem for the ISS at 400 km. But the area of the Anomaly crossed by the ISS seems small. – Uwe Dec 30 '18 at 21:46
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See this question and answer. – Uwe Dec 30 '18 at 22:15
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The outer belt can indeed dip down to LEO during storms at high latitudes but the inner belt is more of a problem. Again this happens at high latitudes and it is a cause for concern. The astronauts are in contact with the ground monitoring space weather and know when to take cover if a geomagnetic storm happens. – honeste_vivere Jan 19 '21 at 23:19
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The most accurate answer would be just a two-letter "no". The outer radiation belt never gets closer than about 12500km from the ISS. The inner belt does dip low enough near the south atlantic anomaly to be a concern, sometimes, depending on solar weather. – CuteKItty_pleaseStopBArking Dec 10 '21 at 17:43