When NASA’s Artemis II mission lifted off on its historic crewed lunar flyby, it did more than break distance records. It also created temporary disturbances stretching 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometres) across Earth's upper atmosphere.
\n\nAccording to a recent study by researchers at Taiwan's National Cheng Kung University, the powerful core-stage ascent and subsequent upper-stage engine burns created intense atmospheric disturbances inside the ionosphere, the electrically charged layer of the upper atmosphere.
\n\nThe ionosphere begins roughly 50 kilometres above Earth's surface and extends hundreds of kilometres into space. It plays an important role in radio communications and satellite navigation because charged particles in this layer can influence the signals travelling between satellites and receivers on the ground.
\n\nCrucially, the study found that these artificial disturbances were significantly more powerful than those recorded following previous heavy-lift rocket launches. Researchers identified three separate disturbances associated with the mission's launch and subsequent engine burns, making it an unusual case of repeated atmospheric disruption over the same geographical region.
\n\nThe resulting thinning of charged particles altered the time taken for satellite signals to travel through the atmosphere, potentially introducing metre-scale GPS positioning errors across North America.
\n\nThis happens because GPS receivers calculate their location by…
Original source: https://www.cnbctv18.com/technology/
