Oops! Elon Musk SpaceX Rocket Might Have Made A Hole On Earth Atmosphere
Elon Musk's SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket earlier this month, and American space physicist Jeff Baumgardner claims it made a temporary hole in Earth's ionosphere.
The ionosphere is the upper part of Earth's atmosphere filled with charged particles and spans between 50 and 400 miles above the surface.
"This is a well studied phenomenon when rockets are burning their engines 200 to 300 km above Earth's surface," Baumgardner was quoted as saying to spaceweather.com.
"I reviewed footage from the July 19th launch. It shows the second stage engine burning at 286 km, near the F-region peak for that time of day. So, it is quite possible that an ionospheric 'hole' was made," he added.
The ionosphere is important as it causes auroras during geomagnetic storms, and fast-moving rockets can alter its ionization.
When SpaceX rockets spray out water and carbon dioxide, it can decrease ionization by up to 70%. The hole in the ionosphere appears red due to oxygen ions reacting with rocket exhaust, emitting light similar to red auroras.
In the past, SpaceX launches have caused similar effects on the ionosphere, sometimes creating large holes that last for a few hours. These events can also impact GPS systems, slightly affecting location accuracy.
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Oops! Elon Musk SpaceX Rocket Might Have Made A Hole On Earth Atmosphere
