NASA spokesman Kelly Smith- Van Allen Radiation Belt

Kelly Smith, a NASA employee, is tasked with explaining the technology required to implement the Orion Project, including the challenged involved in overcoming radiation. Smith specifically addresses the problem of navigating the Van Allen Radiation Belt, a 400- almost 40,000 miles magnetic field that envelopes Earth. The question is, if NASA is still trying to solve this problem at the point of this video production in the early 2010's, how were the astronauts of 1969 able to deal with what still seems to be an insurmountable issue?

Here's a description of the VARB courtesy of Wikipedia:

"The Van Allen radiation belt is a zone of energetic charged particles, most of which originate from the solar wind, that are captured by and held around a planet by that planet's magnetosphere. Earth has two such belts, and sometimes others may be temporarily created. The belts are named after James Van Allen, who published an article describing the belts in 1958.

Earth's two main belts extend from an altitude of about 640 to 58,000 km (400 to 36,040 mi) above the surface, in which region radiation levels vary. The belts are in the inner region of Earth's magnetic field. They trap energetic electrons and protons. Other nuclei, such as alpha particles, are less prevalent. Most of the particles that form the belts are thought to come from the solar wind while others arrive as cosmic rays. By trapping the solar wind, the magnetic field deflects those energetic particles and protects the atmosphere from destruction.

The belts endanger satellites, which must have their sensitive components protected with adequate shielding if they spend significant time near that zone. Apollo Astronauts going through the Van Allen Belts received a very low and harmless dose of radiation.

In 2013, the Van Allen Probes detected a transient, third radiation belt, which persisted for four weeks."

The Wiki entry dismisses the Apollo astronaut's exposure to radiation as insignificant in one short sentence. Yet the VARB still pose a threat to those who are embarking on space travel outside Earth's atmosphere. Please leave your comments and observations below after watching Smith's presentation.