Fun fact, for most federal funded research stuff has to be made public.

No. They loose VHF radio. It happens now and then due to solar activity and trans-atlantic flights may be re-routed to avoid that, but the airline will lose money on that flight due to the increased fuel consumption.

Low lattitude.

No for the Earth. It will be always the same side that gets hit, the one facing the sun.

Space plasma physicist here. Very pedantic answer below, on stuff you may or may not have wished to know. But we rarely get anybody interested in our shit so here it comes: