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A single cargo ship pollutes an order of magnitude more than any of these space flights. On a one way trip.
by xwdv 5y ago
A single cargo ship pollutes an order of magnitude more than any of these space flights. On a one way trip.
- jorge-d 5y agoOne can argue that a cargo ship is benefiting much more people than a spaceflight only enjoyed by the very rich. The carbon footprint per capita is quite incomparable.
- relativ575 5y agoThe excitement and inspiration that something like Apollo or Falcon Heavy generate cannot be quantified. Many young people have chosen science career because of spaceflights they follow. That include climate and earth science. To use as an analogy, can you measure the impact of Chopin or Mozart's music? Mozart made a lot of money performing at private events sponsored by the riches, as well as from lessons for their children.
- jorge-d 5y agoI have nothing against private space exploration, I just don't see how this applies to this kind of space tourism. They are not breaking any frontier or discovering anything, just using a huge amount of resources and energy to put very wealthy people in zero-g flights for x minutes. I don't see how we can justify that given how unsustainable that industry is.
- bashinator 5y agoWhataboutism. A) cargo ships are also a problem, and B) a private vehicle carrying a half-dozen people creating “only” one tenth the pollution of a ship carrying hundreds of thousands of cargo goods for hundreds of thousands of people is not bragging rights.
- akvadrako 5y agoIn terms of kg/km, cargo ships are very efficient, even in terms of pollutants. The only things better are slow trains. I'm not sure how spacecraft compare if you measure km as in maximum height reached.
- xwdv 5y agoAt the end of the world, the climate will not care how many goods you moved.
- Jyaif 5y agoA single cargo ship moves hundreds of thousands of goods across the planet. This space flight moved a handful of people up and down.