A version 1 preprint about NASA’s Artemis II mission describes three occasions of ionospheric disturbance. News reports published November 5, 2026, instead describe two large corridors and discuss possible GPS positioning effects. The preprint’s abstract lists the three occasions by mission event; it does not map them one-to-one to the two corridors described in the reports.
Three disturbance occasions during Artemis II
The preprint says observations of total electron content revealed three occasions: wave modulations associated with launch, a large disturbance after the Apogee Raise Burn, and a weaker disturbance after the trans-lunar injection burn. Total electron content refers to the amount of electrons along a measurement path through the ionosphere, a charged region of Earth’s upper atmosphere. The ESS Open Archive record gives these event times and describes the large disturbance as spanning about 50° of longitude across North America.
| Mission event | Time (UT) | Observation described in the preprint abstract |
| Artemis II launch, April 1, 2026 | 22:35 | Shock-acoustic and gravity-wave modulations |
| Apogee Raise Burn, April 2, 2026 | 00:23 | Large-scale disturbance spanning about 50° of longitude across North America |
| Trans-lunar injection burn, April 2, 2026 | 23:49 | A similar but weaker disturbance |
The abstract estimates that the two orbital maneuvers took place at a perigee altitude of 185 km, over longitudes 120°W–105°W. The launch-related observations and the two burn-related disturbances make up the abstract’s three occasions. The two-corridor description in November news reports is a separate framing of the findings.
What the reports say about GPS
The preprint describes ionospheric observations. The New York Post separately reported GPS positioning errors of several feet and discussed possible effects on navigation. It also attributed a hypothetical example to co-author Charles C. H. Lin: a positioning error of a couple of meters could prompt an autonomous car to change lanes. That was a possible consequence Lin described, not a reported vehicle event. (The New York Post’s account and Quartz’s report describe two large corridors.)
The preprint’s measurements concern the ionosphere; GPS positioning effects are a separate reported implication.
The preprint’s review status
ESS Open Archive dates version 1 to July 22, 2026, and labels it a preprint that had not been peer reviewed. The Artemis II launch took place on April 1, 2026; the November 5 reports came later.
