That is the conclusion offered by Russian scientists. The unexpected detonation of SpaceX's Starship rocket during a test flight in November 2023 tore an "ionospheric hole" in the upper atmosphere. It is the first time this type of hole has been created by a human-caused explosion, according to the paper. Here's a very cogent, balanced summary from LiveScience reporting:
. . .The high-altitude explosion of one of SpaceX's supersized Starship rockets last year temporarily ripped a hole in the upper atmosphere, a new study from Russian scientists shows. It is the first time this type of atmospheric disturbance has been created by a human-caused explosion, the researchers say.
On Nov. 18, 2023, SpaceX launched its superheavy Starship rocket — the largest and most powerful rocket ever built — for the second time ever from SpaceX's Starbase test and manufacturing facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
Around 4 minutes after liftoff, the rocket's first stage — the large, lower part that contains the main engines — detached from the upper part of the rocket as planned but unexpectedly exploded shortly afterward, before it could land back on Earth. Then, another 4 minutes later, the rest of the rocket blew up in a larger "rapid unscheduled disassembly" around 93 miles (150 kilometers) above the ground, when a fire started as the rocket vented liquid oxygen. The company's founder and CEO Elon Musk later said that the rocket would have made it to orbit if it had been carrying a proper payload. . . .
Now you know. . . and obviously, as that hole rotated around the Earth for the next few days, until closing -- whatever it was over was bathed in excess interstellar radiation, without the "sheathing" of the ionosphere. I am grinning just the same, in part because the hole closed, and because. . . Mr. Musk may see new international, or even UN level attempts to slow his occasionally reckless pursuits -- in space, as a private commercial enterprise -- on the back of studies like this one.
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