A 3D rendering of Earth and the Van Allen radiation belts, seen up-close. A trajectory of an Apollo-spacecraft's path to the Moon is also visible, showing how it avoids the densest parts of the belts.
A 3D rendering of the Van Allen radiation belts around Earth, as well as the 7 Apollo mission trajectories relative to the belts' orientation. This shows how each Apollo spacecraft left Earth and began their journey to the Moon. Notably Apollo 14 went straight through the densest parts of the belts, and Apollo 17 took a path way further "south" than the others.
Working on the Van Allen belts-section for the latest Everyday Astronaut video was an incredible challenge and really, really fun!
I'll dive deeper into all the numbers I crunched to ensure the accuracy of the Apollo orbits/trajectories.
For now please enjoy the pretty colors I made :)