After watching the CitizenCon dynamic weather presentation, which was really great to see, I feel that have to point out (because I work in aerospace) that aircraft don't explode when they're struck by lightning. They're designed to be Faraday cages and conduct the strike around the skin of the aircraft... damage tends to be superficial, minor puncture holes, burns / pitting (sort of like being hit with a plasma bolt... I wonder why that would be?) Everything important is shielded and in modern aircraft all the electronics and computer systems undergo rigorous testing before it's allowed type certification. This keeps millions of people safe every year and I can't see ships 900 years from now being any less able to deal with a lightning strike (if they have EM shields they should probably do an even better job). You can find this stuff out with a simple web search engine. Errors like this are real howlers for anyone with any knowledge of physics / aerospace. I know someone is going to call out 'Rule of Cool'... but you know what's really cool? Human ingenuity in designing aircraft to be able to take a lightning strike to the face and continue like nothing out of the ordinary happened. Why lightning strikes don’t harm the planes we fly in - BBC Future What happens when lightning strikes an airplane? | Scientific American