Van Allen belt radiation is formed of particles, predominately electrons but some protons and alpha particles. The metal exterior of the spacecraft shields much of this; however, as the effect of radiation is cumulative and they're just passing through (ok, a couple of times per mission) it will add to the risk of cancer over one's lifetime but I seem to remember reading in a journal at one time it's a better bet than living on top of a granite area like Cornwall where the leaking radon gas is a real risk as well. The Apollo mission ceased in the early 1970s and NASA has not used or retained the Apollo technology since then (I no longer leave my Triumph Herald from then) - and as one will have noticed propulsion, information, telecommunications, environmental, medical, etc technologies have moved on and none of the planners, designers, managers and other staff with tgge knowledge of those missions still work for NASA. Hence, they're effectively reinventing the wheel using the largest technologies with commercial partners such as SpaceX, Boeing and others. With regard, to radiation, coronal mass ejections and gammas ray bursts from solar activity are a higher risk; the Apollo missions were lucky that they didn't coincide with any of those ...
Michael Ixer ● 2711d