Plainer news headline style "SpaceX Falcon 9 launch might have interfered GPS signal coverage in area three times larger than California"
Circular Shock Acoustic Waves in Ionosphere Triggered by Launch of Formosat‐5
21–30 of 92 posts
Re: Circular Shock Acoustic Waves in Ionosphere Triggered by Launch of Formosat‐5
#22Can this cause any other issues other than GPS errors? Lines like It is followed by ionospheric hole (plasma depletions) due to rapid chemical reactions of rocket exhaust plumes and ionospheric plasma. sound concerning but that's most likely because I only understand half the words, and have even less of an understanding when they're strung together in that manner!
It might affect short wave propagation and things like atmospheric electricity.
Re: Circular Shock Acoustic Waves in Ionosphere Triggered by Launch of Formosat‐5
#23I wonder why a SpaceX Falcon-9 was singled out. Wouldn't any sufficiently large rocket have the same effect? And if so, wouldn't the Falcon heavy cause an even more dramatic effect?
Read the article before asking questions. "This unique nearly vertical trajectory is different from the usual satellite launches that the rockets fly over horizontal trajectory "
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Re: Circular Shock Acoustic Waves in Ionosphere Triggered by Launch of Formosat‐5
#24Even plainer language: Rocket exhaust can have impact with atmosphere, we need to study it more on short and long term effects.
The ionosphere is not the same thing as the atmosphere. The ionosphere is a shell of super hot gas outside of the atmosphere.
Re: Circular Shock Acoustic Waves in Ionosphere Triggered by Launch of Formosat‐5
#25Can this cause any other issues other than GPS errors? Lines like It is followed by ionospheric hole (plasma depletions) due to rapid chemical reactions of rocket exhaust plumes and ionospheric plasma. sound concerning but that's most likely because I only understand half the words, and have even less of an understanding when they're strung together in that manner!
It is followed by ionospheric hole (should be It was... holes ) A ~900km wide patch of the ion blanket around the earth became thinner. Probably in the density sense, not the size sense: there was less plasma there than normal. (The abstract measures this in terms of how many electrons they counted in that area.) due to rapid chemical reactions of rocket exhaust plumes and ionospheric plasma. They think the thin patc…
I'm curious about this too. The Falcon burns RP-1, essentially a very refined kerosene, with liquid oxygen. Exhaust should be water, carbon dioxide, and a bit of carbon monoxide.
Not typically the most reactive things, but perhaps there are different interactions with plasma?
Re: Circular Shock Acoustic Waves in Ionosphere Triggered by Launch of Formosat‐5
#26Re: Circular Shock Acoustic Waves in Ionosphere Triggered by Launch of Formosat‐5
#27I'd be curious to know roughly how long the disturbance lasted. Did it dissipate/recover in minutes, or did it stick around for the better part of a day (or two, or three)?
Re: Circular Shock Acoustic Waves in Ionosphere Triggered by Launch of Formosat‐5
#28The worst such event on record caused errors of ~1 meter. I didn't think civilian GPS was that precise anyway, and that's why various schemes are used in conjunction with GPS for greater accuracy? Presumably, military GPS has similar schemes to deal with this sort of event?
Military GPSs use multiple frequencies which helps them mitigate errors from the ionosphere. NOAA publishes enough space weather data to let commercial receivers make their own corrections, but I don't know if any actually do.
In the relatively near future, GPS satellites will broadcast multiple frequencies for civilian use, once commercial receivers catch up everyone should be able to reduce the error due to atmospheric conditions