Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The South Atlantic Anomaly

Episode Date: May 11, 2021

For years people believed that there was a part of the Atlantic Ocean where ships and planes would disappear called the Bermuda Triangle. It turned out that ships and planes didn’t disappear there at any higher rate than they did elsewhere, and it just wasn’t a thing. However, researchers did find a place where the vessels which traveled into it had a far higher rate of catastrophe. This area was in outer space. Learn more about the South Atlantic Anomaly Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For years, people believed that there was a part of the Atlantic Ocean where ships and planes would disappear. They called it the Bermuda Triangle. It turns out that ships and planes didn't disappear there at any higher rate than they did anywhere else, and it just wasn't a thing. However, researchers did find a place where the vessels which traveled into it had a far higher rate of catastrophe. That area was in outer space. Learn more about the South Atlantic anomaly, the spacecraft killing zone of outer space, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed.

It effectively turned day into night and how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. This episode is sponsored by the Travel Photography Academy. If you've listened to enough episodes of this podcast, you'll know. notice that I often interject places that I've visited. That's because I spent over 10 years of my life traveling around the world almost nonstop. During that time, I went from being a complete novice in photography to winning almost every major travel photography prize in North America. When I learned how to do travel photography, I had to do it the hard way. It took years of time

and lots of travel. That's why I created the Travel Photography Academy, so you can learn from me in much less time, spending much less money. It's an online video course. which I shot on location in France, Spain, and the United States, and I cover everything you need to improve your travel photography. So, if you want to take your photography to the next level and get better photos on your next trip, visit travel photography academy.com or click on the link in the show notes.

Ever since Sputnik was launched into Earth orbit becoming the first artificial satellite, we have had to deal with the issue of satellite failure. This isn't really a mysterious phenomenon. Satellites require energy, and if they're battery powered, they'll eventually run out of power. Even if they have solar panels, they need batteries

for when the satellite is on the dark side of the earth. And batteries, just like in your smartphone, degrade in performance over time. Space is also a very harsh environment. You have extremes in temperature, exposure to a vacuum, and you can collide with very small particles known as micrometeers at very high velocity, which can do a lot of damage over time.

So when a satellite fails, it isn't totally unexpected. However, as we put more satellites into space and gathered more data, a pattern began to appear, a very puzzling pattern. A large number of satellites all experienced problems or failed in the same region above the earth. It didn't matter if it was day or night or where that part of the earth was pointed. Something was happening in that spot. That area was above South America and a large part of the Southern Atlantic Ocean. It was dubbed the South Atlantic anomaly, or as it sometimes known the Bermuda Triangle of Space.

Just to give you an idea of some of the high-profile problems which have occurred over this spot, in 2016, Japan's space agency lost their X-ray astronomy satellite called Hittomi over the anomaly. The system, which orientated itself, had problems when flying through the anomaly, and it's believed that instead of just rotating the satellite, when flying through the anomaly, it might have just spun itself to death and self-destructed. In 2007, Global Star, which is a company with a fleet of voice and data satellites, lost several satellites after the electronics on board degraded after frequent trips through the anomaly. The recent SpaceX Dragon crew module suffered computer problems when flying through the anomaly on its way to the International Space Station.

Speaking of which, the ISS, the Space Shuttle, and Skylab from the 1970s, all experienced computer and electronic problems while over the South Atlantic. Astronauts have recorded seeing white flashes of light before their eyes when travel. traveling through this region. So what's happening? Is it some sort of rogue government shooting death rays into space? And I'm not saying it's aliens, but it might be aliens. Actually, the explanation for what's happening in the South Atlantic anomaly can all be explained with science. Understanding the anomaly starts with an understanding of the Van Allen Belt. The Van Allen belt was discovered by its namesake, Dr. James Van Allen at the University of Iowa. The belt is an area of

high radiation which surrounds the earth. An incredible number of charged, energetic particles are shot at the Earth from the sun. If you remember back to my episode explaining radiation, radiation is nothing more than highly energetic, some atomic particles and photons. As the particles are sent towards the Earth, they're deflected by the Earth's magnetic field. Our magnetic field is what prevents most of the radiation in space from reaching the surface of the Earth. If it didn't exist, life on Earth would look very different.

When these particles are deflected away by the magnetic field, they have to go somewhere, and many of them wind up trapped in the Van Allen Belt. The discovery of the belt was in 1958, with the launch of the very first American satellites. The Van Allen Belt extends from roughly 650 to 58,000 kilometers, or 400 to 36,000 miles above the surface of the Earth. For the most part, the belt is above the altitude where most low-Earth orbit satellites are positioned. For example, the ISS orbits at an altitude of only 254 miles above the Earth. Okay, so if this is a belt around the entire Earth and it's located above where most of the spacecraft are, what's so special about the spot over the South Atlantic? Well, as it turns out, the Earth's magnetic field isn't perfectly smooth or symmetric.

The magnetic field is created by the iron in the liquid core of the Earth. It's constantly moving and changing slowly over time. This is why the magnetic north and south poles are constantly changing every year. It turns out that the South Atlantic anomaly is basically a dimple in the Earth's magnetic field. In that spot, the magnetic field is weaker than it is anywhere else on Earth. Because the magnetic field is weaker, the Van Allen Belt dips down to its lowest point at around 200 kilometers or 120 miles above the surface of the Earth. When satellites fly through that region, they're being exposed to far,

higher radiation than they are anywhere else in orbit. And this is why computer equipment tends to fail when it flies through that region. The highly energetic particles can damage circuits and electronics causing their failure. It is also the explanation as to why astronauts would see flashing lights when they flew through the anomaly. The radiation was literally hitting their retinas, causing their eyes to see flashes of light. So what can be done about the anomaly? Well, it depends on the spacecraft. When the Hubble Space Telespace, telescope flies through the anomaly, they just don't take any observations, like ever. The radiation would cause problems with the electronic sensor, so they just never make any

observations when they're in that region. It's actually something they really have to pay close attention to because it's going to fly through that anomaly several times a day. Other satellites either have to do the same thing and shut off some of their important electrical systems when they fly through, or they need to design the satellite with extra shielding to protect themselves from the radiation. As for humans, the best you can do, is provide extra shielding, which is what they've done in the International Space Station. The crew quarters and other places where astronauts spend most of their time will have extra shielding to protect them when they go through the anomaly.

The anomaly itself is slowly changing. It's moving about 12 miles per year to the east, and it might slowly be dividing into two separate anonyms, or at least one anomaly with two large lobes. This is all due to changes deep in the Earth's core, which are then reflected in the magnetosphere up in space. Using paleo-magnetic evidence, geologists have determined that the anomaly has been there for at least a million years, and it's very slowly getting weaker. In fact, some speculate that the anomaly might be the first stages of the reversal of the Earth's magnetic poles, which happens approximately every 450,000 years.

And we are well overdue. So there isn't a whole lot you can actually do about the anomaly other than be aware of it and prepare for it. It's slowly changing, but not so fast that it'll ever make a difference within our lifetimes. So, unlike the real Bermuda Triangle, the one in space isn't really a mystery, and it can all be explained by science. The associate producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Thor Thompson. If you'd like to support the show, please donate over at patreon.com. There is content only available to supporters, merchandise, and even opportunities for a show producer credit. If you know someone you think would enjoy the show, please share it with them.

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