Not alarming at all.
βA rocket launch may have ripped a hole in the Earth's ionosphere as it accelerated into space.
The rocket, belonging to Firefly Aerospace, was carrying the Space Force Victus Nox satellite into orbit as it launched on September 14 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The rocket's exhaust plume could be seen for hundreds of miles, with LiveScience reporting that some eagle-eyed observers also caught the tell-tale sign that the rocket had punched a hole in the ionized part of the Earth's upper atmosphere layer: a faint red glow.β
"If the chemistry of the upper atmosphere is disturbed, such as when a rocket flies through it, the carbon dioxide and water molecules from the rocket exhaust change the chemical balance in the atmosphere. This temporarily makes it much easier for the ionization to recombine into neutral atoms, weakening the ionosphere and causing the red glow to be seen," Scott said.
This can lead to a 70 percent drop in ionization in the area that the rocket passes through, particularly in the F-layer at the top of the ionosphere. The red glow in particular comes from oxygen ions, which also glow during the northern and southern lights.
"As with aircraft contrails, the rocket trails will gradually disperse into the background atmosphere and the original chemical balance will be restored, most likely over the course of a few hours," Scott said. "This launch was at night, so the ionization will likely have remained weakened until dawn when the sun would once again ionize a fraction of the atmosphere."
The linked thread also notes the other possible long term considerations with all of these launches.
newsweek.com
βA rocket launch may have ripped a hole in the Earth's ionosphere as it accelerated into space.
The rocket, belonging to Firefly Aerospace, was carrying the Space Force Victus Nox satellite into orbit as it launched on September 14 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The rocket's exhaust plume could be seen for hundreds of miles, with LiveScience reporting that some eagle-eyed observers also caught the tell-tale sign that the rocket had punched a hole in the ionized part of the Earth's upper atmosphere layer: a faint red glow.β
"If the chemistry of the upper atmosphere is disturbed, such as when a rocket flies through it, the carbon dioxide and water molecules from the rocket exhaust change the chemical balance in the atmosphere. This temporarily makes it much easier for the ionization to recombine into neutral atoms, weakening the ionosphere and causing the red glow to be seen," Scott said.
This can lead to a 70 percent drop in ionization in the area that the rocket passes through, particularly in the F-layer at the top of the ionosphere. The red glow in particular comes from oxygen ions, which also glow during the northern and southern lights.
"As with aircraft contrails, the rocket trails will gradually disperse into the background atmosphere and the original chemical balance will be restored, most likely over the course of a few hours," Scott said. "This launch was at night, so the ionization will likely have remained weakened until dawn when the sun would once again ionize a fraction of the atmosphere."
The linked thread also notes the other possible long term considerations with all of these launches.
newsweek.com
There are many negatives associated with the enormous amount of worldwide rocket launches, and there seems to be no regulatory oversight. Itβs a free-for-all.
- Impact of Rocket Launch and Space Debris Air Pollutant Emissions on Stratospheric Ozone and Global Climate: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
- Impact of Rocket Launch and Space Debris Air Pollutant Emissions on Stratospheric Ozone and Global Climate: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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