Lagrange point colonization: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:55, 10 March 2017

Revision as of 14:24, 22 August 2017

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==Disadvantages==

[[File:Structure_of_the_magnetosphere-en.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Schematic of Earth's magnetosphere. The [[solar wind]] flows from left to right.]]

The risk of [[Proton#Human_exposure|proton exposure]] from the [[solar wind]] as well as the [[health threat from cosmic rays]] is significant. In the Earth–Moon system, the orbit of colonies at L3–L5 will take them outside the protection of Earth's [[magnetosphere]] for approximately two-thirds of the time (as occurs with the Moon). Colonies at L1 (located between Earth and the MoonSun) will experience this to a lesser degree, whereas L2 (located beyond the Moon) will experience this to a greater degree and all of them will be exposed to the little-understood [[plasma sheet]] of the [[Magnetosphere#Magnetic tails|magnetotail]].<ref>[http://www.nasa.gov/topics/moonmars/features/magnetotail_080416.html The Moon and the Magnetotail - Tony Phillips (2008)]</ref>

In the Sun–Earth system, L1 and L3–L5 are all outside the protection of Earth's magnetosphere. L2 periodically transfers from within the magnetotail, plasma sheet, and solar wind, depending on the intensity and direction of the solar wind.