{"id":99997,"date":"2025-05-14T05:43:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T05:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/99997\/"},"modified":"2025-05-14T05:43:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T05:43:10","slug":"elon-musk-accidently-punches-hole-in-atmosphere-after-rocket-explodes-in-mid-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/99997\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk accidently punches hole in atmosphere after rocket explodes in mid-air"},"content":{"rendered":"

When SpaceX launched its massive Starship rocket for just the second time in November 2023<\/a>, it didn’t just break records\u2014it broke the sky.<\/p>\n

Scientists have recently revealed that the raw power of the launch punched a temporary hole through the upper atmosphere, creating a phenomenon never seen before.<\/p>\n

The rocket’s booster separated as planned, but four minutes later it exploded mid-air.<\/p>\n

Starship itself then detonated about 93 miles above Earth shortly after.<\/p>\n

\"Space<\/p>\n

The rocket’s booster separated as planned, but four minutes later it exploded mid-air<\/p>\n

Getty<\/p>\n

The second explosion was so intense it ripped through the ionosphere, the electrically charged layer of the atmosphere that plays a key role in radio communication and satellite signals.<\/p>\n

According to researchers, this is the first time a hole in the ionosphere has been caused by a catastrophic event like a rocket explosion.<\/p>\n

“Usually, such holes form due to chemical reactions from engine fuel,” explained Yury Yasyukevich, lead researcher and ionosphere physicist at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics.<\/p>\n

“But this time, it was caused by the sheer shock wave from the Starship explosion.”<\/p>\n

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"SpaceSpace X’s next generation StarshipReuterws<\/p>\n

Using data from satellites and ground observatories, scientists observed the gaping hole remain open for 30 to 40 minutes before the ionosphere naturally stitched itself back together.<\/p>\n

Yasyukevich’s research team used data from ground-based Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers to investigate how the Starship explosion affected the ionosphere.<\/p>\n

Their analysis revealed that when Starship exploded, the resulting shock wave scattered free electrons, temporarily disrupting the plasma and creating a “hole” where the ionosphere’s usual properties were depleted.<\/p>\n

The researchers published their study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters in August 2024.<\/p>\n

“Analysing the data and understanding their nature, we understand more deeply the structure of the ionosphere, [and] the nature of the phenomena that occur in it,” Yasyukevich told TASS, a Russian news agency.<\/p>\n

\"Musk\"\/<\/p>\n

Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002<\/p>\n

Reuters<\/p>\n

This novel event offered scientists a rare opportunity to learn more about this atmospheric layer.<\/p>\n

Since that inaugural flight, Starship has been launched seven more times for a total of eight test flights. Four of them have been explosive failures.<\/p>\n

SpaceX has yet to successfully launch Starship in 2025.<\/p>\n

Flights seven and eight saw the booster successfully return to Starbase, but the upper stage exploded 10 minutes after lift off during both flights.<\/p>\n

SpaceX is currently preparing for the rocket’s ninth test flight, scheduled for May 20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When SpaceX launched its massive Starship rocket for just the second time in November 2023, it didn’t just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3844],"tags":[295,12,70,512,413,16,15,978,727],"class_list":{"0":"post-99997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-elon-musk","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-sgg","12":"tag-space","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-us-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114504598037550151","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}