Analysis of the passage of a spacecraft between the Van Allen belts considering a low and high solar activity

The radiation in the Van Allen belts, produced by electrically charged particles, can cause damages to the electrical equipments of a satellite in orbit of Earth. In this paper, the Van Allen belts are modeled using the data from the space mission Van Allen Probes Mission. With this model, a study was made taking into account the passage of a spacecraft through the Van Allen belts estimating the absorbed radiation dose and the time that spacecraft remained in the radiation zones, considering the effects of a low and high solar activity. (paper)