Habitat Contamination - Warning: Rambling Ahead!

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, Al Globus wrote:
>
> On Tuesday, December 17, 2002, at 07:50 PM, victoriatangoman
> wrote:
>
> > We all know that trvel to and from the Habitat is going to be a
> > journey taking at a minimum 3 days if the Habitat is at L5 or in
a
> > 2:1 resonant orbit.
>
> These orbits were proposed assuming lunar materials. If
asteroidal
> materials are used then the colony can be in any orbit that won't
decay
> quickly. I suspect a high Earth orbit is best. Does anyone know
how
> high you can go before getting into the high-radiation portion of
the
> van Allen belts?

The Inner van Allen belt, depending on the latitude you're measuring
from, begins at between 250 and 750 miles above the surface and
extends out to about 6,200 miles.

The Outer van Allen belt begins at about 6,200 miles and extends
from 37,000 to about 57,000 miles, with the outer boundary being
determined by the flucuations of solar activity.

I'm not sure whether this is pertinent to you or not, but the Inner
belt usually extend from 40 degrees north to 40 degrees south.

Hope that helps.

TangoMan