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> Putting things into space creates a lot of air pollution. Yes, rockets emit a lot, but in the overall, less than automobiles when taking into the frequency o
by eatbitseveryday 7y ago
> Putting things into space creates a lot of air pollution.
Yes, rockets emit a lot, but in the overall, less than automobiles when taking into the frequency of use into account:
> Space shuttle fuel consumed in a launch: 3.5 million pounds. Gasoline consumed in one day in the US - 2,500 million pounds. In other words, one space shuttle launch is equivalent to about two minutes of gasoline consumption in the United States. [1]
If we use rockets more often, then this would become a larger component of overall pollution.
[1] http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2000-10/973014746.Es.r.html http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2000-10/973014746.Es.r....
- dmurray 7y agoThe Space Shuttle didn't burn gasoline or exhaust carbon dioxide, it burnt hydrogen and exhausted water. So it didn't create meaningful air pollution when launched. Edit: actually it burnt both solid fuel and hydrogen, about 2.2 million pounds of the former.
- seiferteric 7y agoAnd where did the hydrogen come from?
- leetcrew 7y agoburning hydrogen at high temperatures in the atmosphere can create a good bit of NOx. not so bad when there aren't many rockets being launched, but not something you want a lot of.