What is a plasma field? Elon Musk shares video of SpaceX’s starship as it enters the atmosphere after launch

The third test flight of SpaceX's Starship was accomplished successfully on Thursday, March 14. After concluding that SpaceX complied with all safety, environmental, policy, and financial responsibility standards, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated that it had approved a launch license for the mission.

The heat and plasma field it created were recorded by the exterior cameras when it re-entered Earth's atmosphere. It began to grow around the rocket's flaps and eventually covered the whole thing.

Many electrons are free to move about amid the atoms' nuclei in plasma, which is a kind of matter. Sometimes, plasma in Earth's magnetosphere flows toward the polar regions along Earth's magnetic field, producing the aurora, also known as the northern and southern lights. These stunning displays happen when energetic plasma particles strike atmospheric gases and turn them into glowing matter. This field of plasma is called a plasma field.

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SpaceX’s starship was enveloped in plasma field upon re-entering

After the gas, liquid, and solid states of matter, plasma is referred to as the fourth state. It's a state of matter when an ionized material becomes so highly electrically conductive that long-range magnetic and electric fields control the substance's behavior.

Space plasma makes up the universe. Since their kinetic energy is greater than their potential energy, space plasma particles are essentially free.

Plasma is ubiquitous in the universe, but it is less prevalent on Earth. Some of the plasma that is produced by the Sun's UV radiation is found in areas of the atmosphere known as the ionosphere.

Plasma is also present in the thermosphere and exosphere, the uppermost layers of Earth's atmosphere, along with atoms and molecules of various gases.

The magnetosphere is the magnetic field that envelops Earth above the atmosphere. Ionized plasma makes up the majority of the particles in the magnetosphere.

According to MIT, scientists from a wide range of fields are very interested in the behavior and characteristics of plasma because it makes up a large portion of the universe. Crucially, all matter exists as plasma at the temperatures needed to achieve the aim of usable fusion energy.

As plasma is a charged gas, scientists have been able to contain it with magnetic fields and raise its temperature to levels higher than those of the sun's core. Other scientists study plasmas for interesting uses such as wound healing, biological hazard destruction, environmental cleansing, computer chip manufacturing, and rocket propulsion.

The gas fields that envelope these rockets are called plasma fields.

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This was the third attempt for the SpaceX’s starship

On Thursday, SpaceX's megarocket successfully completed its historic third test flight from South Texas, achieving orbital speed for the first time.

At 9:25 a.m. EDT (13:25 GMT) on March 14, SpaceX's enormous vehicle took flight from the company's test launch and manufacturing facilities near Boca Chica Beach.

Following the rocket's successful launch, SpaceX released a video showing the Starship rocket returning to Earth's atmosphere. Sharing the video on X, SpaceX wrote,

"Views through the plasma."

The initial effort to launch Starship in April 2023 failed in midair due to an explosion. Starship managed to continue its mission on its second attempt in November 2023, but it eventually failed due to an explosion and communication loss.

Interestingly, this test launch was intended to lower Starship's upper stage in the Indian Ocean, as opposed to the Pacific Ocean close to Hawaii, which was the goal of the previous two missions.

However, Starship broke apart and failed a soft water touchdown during the entrance time. After T+50, the Starship's camera stopped sending signals.