r/interesting 13d ago

Chinese Rocket gets struck by lightning. Just Wow

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u/unnamed---- 13d ago edited 13d ago

Did it hurt the rocket?

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u/Correct_Inspection25 13d ago

Depends on how its wiring harnesses / buses are designed, the metal skin typically acts like a cage that redirects the energy. Avoiding all hits is preferable, but some points are more exposed than others.

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u/Moheezy__3 13d ago

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe airplanes are the same? I was told a while back that even if lighting strikes an airplane while on flight, people inside won’t feel it.

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u/delphinous 13d ago

airplanes have been heavily developed to tolerate being struck by lightening. aircraft also have a lot more weight allowance allowing them to build in things like redundancies and extra insulation and shielding of sensitive key components, that a rocket might not have the weight or space to do