No nasa space launches now- partisan fighting and controversies prevent all funding Handberg 7-25
Download 398.94 Kb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Launches release ozone-destructive gas Ross and Zittel 07
- More evidence Sutton 9 (
Link- LaunchesLaunches destroy the ozone Page 9 (Lewis, former officer of the Royal Navy, “Space launches could be capped to save ozone layer,” Apr 1, 2009, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/01/space_rockets_kill_ozone/) American researchers have warned that space rockets could do more damage to the ozone layer than old-school spray-cans and fridges. "As the rocket launch market grows, so will ozone-destroying rocket emissions," said Professor Darin Toohey, atmosphere and ocean scientist at Colorado Uni. "If left unregulated, rocket launches by the year 2050 could result in more ozone destruction than was ever realized by CFCs." Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were banned from use in aerosol cans, freezer refrigerants and air conditioners by the Montreal Protocol in 1987. Some scientists believe that the upper-atmosphere ozone layer - which protects the Earth's surface from harmful solar ultraviolet - will return to normal by 2040 as a result. But Toohey and his collaborators say the potential damage caused by rocket exhaust has been ignored. "The Montreal Protocol has left out the space industry, which could have been included," says the prof. Toohey's co-authors include Martin Ross of US government-funded R&D outfit The Aerospace Corporation. He, Toohey and the rest believe that more research is needed into the amount of ozone damage caused by different types of rockets. They argue that, should the ozone layer continue to deplete - or even fail to regenerate as expected - tough new regulations might outlaw the space industry. "Space system development often takes a decade or longer and involves large capital investments," says Ross. "We want to reduce the risk that unpredictable and more strict ozone regulations would be a hindrance to space access by measuring and modelling exactly how different rocket types affect the ozone layer." The scientists write: Currently, global rocket launches deplete the ozone layer [approximately] 0.03%, an insignificant fraction of the depletion caused by other ozone depletion substances (ODSs). As the space industry grows and ODSs fade from the stratosphere, ozone depletion from rockets could become significant ... Large uncertainties in our understanding of ozone loss caused by rocket engines leave open the possibility that launch systems might be limited to as little as several tens of kilotons per year ... limitations on launch systems due to idiosyncratic regulation to protect the ozone layer present a risk to space industrial development. The risk is particularly acute with regard to the economic rationale to develop low-cost, high flight rate launch systems. Their research, presented in the paper Limits on the Space Launch Market Related to Stratospheric Ozone Depletion, can be read here by subscribers to the Astropolitics journal. It was funded by the US National Science Foundation, NASA and The Aerospace Corporation - in other words by the US government. Launches release ozone-destructive gas Ross and Zittel 07 (Environmental Systems Directorate, leads research on the stratospheric impact of Air Force launch vehicles. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles in Earth and planetary sciences and has been with Aerospace since 1989, Remote Sensing Department, leads research on the radiative and chemical properties of rocket plumes and has conducted basic research in the areas of laser-induced chemistry, vibrational energy transfer, and cryogenic spectroscopy. He holds a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and has been with Aerospace since 1976 Ozone-Destroying Radicals)Complicated chemical and physical processes, only partially understood by atmospheric scientists, affect both the amount and distribution of ozone in the stratosphere. In general, ozone is formed in the equatorial stratosphere at altitudes above 30 kilometers. Large-scale winds continuously transport the ozone to lower altitudes and toward Earth's poles to form a layer about 10 kilometers thick, centered at about 22 kilometers altitude. The concentration of ozone is determined by the rate of ozone transport into the layer versus the rate of ozone loss by reaction with ozone-destroying radicals such as the chlorine atom (Cl), nitric oxide (NO), and the hydroxyl radical (OH). Because each radical is able to regenerate after destroying an ozone molecule (called a catalytic cycle), radical molecules exert a major influence on ozone even at the small quantities found in the stratosphere. This means that small changes in stratospheric composition caused by industrial activity, including rocket exhaust, might cause relatively large changes in the ozone layer. More evidence Sutton 9 (Jesse, writer for Wired in the UK, “Rocket launches 'should be capped to save ozone layer',” 4/2/9, http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2009-04/02/rockets-should-be-capped-to-save-ozone-layer) Rocket launches may have to be capped to prevent damage to the atmosphere, according to a study conducted by The Aerospace Corporation in Los Angeles. It found that they could cause more damage to the Earth's ozone layer than CFCs, the chemical banned from air-conditioners and aerosol cans back in 1987. The paper, co-authored by members of the Colorado University at Boulder and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, studied the impact of the growing number of private and state-sponsored rocket launches. "As the rocket launch market grows, so will ozone-destroying rocket emissions," said Professor Darin Toohey of the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department at Colorado University. "If left unregulated, rocket launches by the year 2050 could result in more ozone destruction than was ever realized by CFCs." The authors hope to spark further investigation into the effect that rocket fuels have on ozone depletion, allowing informed decisions that would not impede the development of space programmes. Martin Ross, chief author of the paper, is concerned that overly tight regulation will be put into place unless there is more measuring and modelling of exactly how different rocket types affect the ozone layer. "In the policy world, uncertainty often leads to unnecessary regulation," he said. "We are suggesting this could be avoided with a more robust understanding of how rockets affect the ozone layer." Existing rocket technology currently uses a number of fuels for propulsion, including solid, liquid and hybrid varieties. Microscopic particles emitted by rockets into the stratospheric layer, such as soot and aluminium oxide, cause an acceleration of "radicals", which destroy ozone. Directory: file -> view view -> Western Europe after wwii view -> Author study: paul fleischman view -> Qpa1 7ela study Guide view -> Arctic Oil/Gas Neg view -> November 1970 Approximately 150,000-500,000 deaths Bhola Cyclone Bangladesh view -> Grade Level: 6 Unit of Study: Caribbean glce view -> Citation: Duffield, Katy view -> Table of Contents Lesson # view -> Chinese Wind Energy Disad Download 398.94 Kb. Share with your friends:
|