Major solar flare argument?

[BertL]

I am currently in a (not very active) discussion with a HB who claims Apollo 16 was in a major solar flare at the time of the mission (April 1972). However, the only major solar flare in 1972 I could find information about on the Internet occured in August 1972, in between Apollo missions 16 and 17.

However, I did find some information in theApollo 16 Mission Report about three minor solar flares (on page 205 under "10.2.4 Radiation"), one of them having occured during translunar flight (on page 35).

My question is: was there really a major deadly solar flare in April 1972, or are the minor sun flares during the missions confused with the major August 1972 flare?

Thanks in advance.

[JayUtah]

All this depends on your definition of "major". Keep in mind that we can detect solar events of miniscule intensity, several of which can occur a day. "Major" might mean simply that it is significantly more intense than the normal chatter, or in another context it may mean that it poses a health risk.

As a matter of fact, a detectable solar event occurred during Apollo 16's mission. It was "major" only in the sense that it was significantly more intense than the background chatter during the rest of the mission. I.e., it was worth mentioning individually. In terms of actual biological effect, it was fairly minor. Skin dose in the CM was estimated at 300 millirems -- practically negligible.

The solar event that occurred in August 1972 was a whopper. It would have been fatal in the very short term to Apollo astronauts had any been out there at the time.

But there is no problem here confusing two events. There really were two separate events. The problem people seem to have is the realization that "major" solar events -- as astronomers use the term solely to describe salience -- encompass events with unshielded skin dosages that span about six orders of magnitude. That is, the difference between the weakest "major" event and the strongest "major" event (where "major" is deemed merely salient) is a factor of 100,000.

You can't simply call an event "major" under the salience definition and then just go on to assume it will have severe biological consequences.

[scooter]

Here's a NASA report on protection against radiation. Interesting reading, also goes into solar flar contingincies and even the radioluminescent paints used in the spcaecraft, and the concerns thereof.

www.geocities.com/bobandrepont/experiencepdf.htm

look under "Apollo Experience Report: Protection Against Radiation"...3-4 Mb but a good read.

Dave