Apparently, no information could pass through plasma, therefore during descent of spacecraft, no information can be transmitted. Why so?
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Related: Communication Blackout and Why is it that during reentry phase a capsule cannot communicate with mission control? – TildalWave Jan 12 '15 at 21:22
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@TildalWave I'm curious how this question is different from the second answer you posted. – Premier Bromanov Jan 12 '15 at 21:45
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1@TomSterkenburg None of the two really discuss the reason why plasma causes communications blackout. The second one merely discusses that plasma forms and why. There's a lot to be said about EMI through spurious emissions, electromagnetism of ionized gases, magnetohydrodynamics, and so on associated with reentering vehicles. There's also one myth to bust here. ;) For reference: Causes and Mitigation of Radio Frequency (RF) Blackout During Reentry of Reusable Launch Vehicles (PDF) – TildalWave Jan 12 '15 at 21:49
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http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1022559710578 – ThePlanMan Jan 14 '15 at 00:10
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1@mins Why did you delete your answer? It was really good. – TildalWave Jan 14 '15 at 15:30
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Plasma is "electrically neutral medium of unbound positive and negative particles". As it's got charge carriers floating about, it's electically conductive. In a sense, you can think of it as a metal sheet. If a metal sheet fully encloses the spacecraft, you'd get a Faraday Cage. Similarly, if the plasma sheath fully encloses the space craft, you end up with a Faraday Cage. Faraday Cages massively attenuate EM signals attempting to pass through them, resulting in loss of RF communications.
Orihara
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