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For more than four weeks last year, a previously unknown third radiation belt circled Earth before it was annihilated -- along with the entire outer belt -- by a shock wave, new findings from a pair of NASA probes show. he discovery was a fluke. The Van Allen Probes' science instruments were not due to be turned on for more than a month after launch on Aug. 30, 2012, while systems checkouts were under way.






Space Radiation Probes Make 'Shock' Discovery : Discovery News