alt Hacker News> Yeah, that's nonsense.
Assuming you're right, why do you suppose so many publications get it wrong?
Not only the NASA one I linked to but also Wikipedia for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray
Or the European Space Agency: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Cluste...
You will forgive me if I take their assessment more seriously than yours, but I'm open to correcting my understanding.
It's in the interest of NASA (and the ESA) to hype the importance of the magnetosphere. After all, they are given money to investigate it, so the more important it is perceived, the more money they can expect to get.