GLAST WILL STUDY THE ORIGIN OF COSMIC RAYS. HOW DO COSMIC RAYS AFFECT US?
Although you may never yourself be bombarded by a primary cosmic ray (we are shielded from them by Earth’s atmosphere), we are bombarded all the time by the secondary cascades of particles that are created when cosmic rays interact with Earth’s atmosphere. These secondary particles are not as energetic, but they provide a constant background radiation to which we are all constantly exposed. Spacecraft and high-altitude planes certainly feel their effects. With the high energy of primary cosmic rays concentrated in such a small bundle, they can disrupt computer hardware or sensitive electronics and these instruments have to be shielded in vehicles traveling above the atmosphere.
