The god of thunder tried – and failed – to take out a Soyuz rocket on May 27, 2019.
Interesting note: the lightning strikes the nose of the vehicles, as you might expect, and disappears as it travels through the conductive metal body. it then continues as a recognizable lightningbolt on its way down to the ground. However… the lightingbolt does not appear from the tail of the Soyuz, but from well aft, seeming to appear out of nowhere. This is because the superheated and chemically “tainted” exhaust is substantially more conductive than plain air; through the hot gas the electricity can travel more freely and thus does not heat up that gas as it does regular air. Once the exhaust gases have cooled and the chemical dispersed so that they are no longer so conductive, the lightning resumes its normal appearance.
