Lightning Strikes Chinese Long March Rocket, Sparks Plasma Questions
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"are there really ions in rocket plumes? is it really a plasma? can it carry current?"
A Chinese Long March 3B rocket got struck by lightning today and it’s the coolest shit ever
These are interesting questions and we have studied this extensively. See my answers in the replies to the original post.
"are there really ions in rocket plumes? is it really a plasma? can it carry current?" https://twitter.com/Truthful_ast/status/2080324049272496535
Yes to all three. It is hot enough to dissociate electrons from the atoms in the gas. Furthermore, the container effect in the nozzle results in a thin sheath of positively charged plasma around the neutral plasma, so rockets are blowing electrical current out the back as normal operation. This charges up the rocket negatively until the voltage is high enough to start exchanging charge with the environment (the air, in this case, or the solar wind in space), so it maintains a constant voltage thereafter. And the plume behind a rocket conducts electricity very well and they easily trigger lightning, so we have strict launch rules to prohibit launching when the cloud-to-ground potential exceeds certain limits.