NASA's Artemis II Mission Causes Unprecedented Atmospheric Disturbances Across North America
NASA's Artemis II mission, launched on April 1, 2026, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, generated three distinct and unprecedented disturbances in Earth's upper atmosphere. Scientists from National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, utilizing ground-based GPS receivers, identified these disturbances. The most significant effects were not from the initial liftoff but from subsequent engine maneuvers as the spacecraft prepared for its lunar journey. One maneuver, an apogee raise burn approximately one hour after liftoff, created shock waves and large-scale disturbances that spread across 50 degrees longitude over North America. A third disturbance occurred during the trans-lunar injection burn 25 hours after launch. These events temporarily stripped electrons from the ionosphere, an electrically charged layer of the upper atmosphere crucial for radio and navigation signals. The research indicates these disturbances were more intense than those from any previous rocket launch, including SpaceX's Starship te...
