[Kosh]

That ain't so good

A new study predicts that Earth’s stratospheric ozone layer will suffer significant damage from future unregulated rocket launches. The study provides a market analysis for estimating future ozone layer depletion based on the expected growth of the space industry and known impacts of rocket launches. The increase in launches could cause ozone depletion that eventually could exceed ozone losses from CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) which were banned in the 1980’s. “As the rocket launch market grows, so will ozone-destroying rocket emissions,” said Professor Darin Toohey of CU-Boulder’s atmospheric and oceanic sciences department, a member of the study. “If left unregulated, rocket launches by the year 2050 could result in more ozone destruction than was ever realized by CFCs.” The study says more research should be done on how different rockets affect the ozone before imposing stricter regulations on chemicals used in rocket fuels.

Current global rocket launches deplete the ozone layer by no more than a few hundredths of 1 percent annually, said Toohey. But as the space industry grows and other ozone-depleting chemicals decline in the Earth’s stratosphere, the issue of ozone depletion from rocket launches is expected to move to the forefront.

[The E]

Srsly, this depends on a massive increase in rocket flights, which I frankly don't see in the near future. That being said, instituting regulations now, while the Market is relatively small, is probably a good idea.

[Pred the Penguin]

Srsly, this depends on a massive increase in rocket flights, which I frankly don't see in the near future.

China?

[iamzack]

If we start regulating our own rockets we can pressure China into doing the same before things get out of hand.

[Blue Lion]

Wait, aren't greenhouse gases increasing, leading to global warming?

Rockets could be our answer to the problem! yay rockets!


*This post brought to you by the Foundation of People who don't Understand Science

[NGTM-1R]

If we start regulating our own rockets we can pressure China into doing the same before things get out of hand.

China's not doing it for any logical reason, only as a prestige thing (more or less), so they are not going to be regulated by logic.

[Mobius]

North Korea anyone?

Well, to be honest, I don't really understand the purpose of that article. What do they pretend to do, interrupt all rocket launches? We need satellites and space exploration should not be abandoned.

The O₃ layer can be preserved in many other ways.

[Snail]

North Korea anyone?

You can't be serious can you? North Korea's rockets/ICBMs are a lame attempt to get respect or get other people to fear them. What they're really doing is embarrassing themselves...

[redsniper]

The O₃ layer can be preserved in many other ways.

Such as?

[BloodEagle]

The O₃ layer can be preserved in many other ways.

Such as?

* BloodEagle thought that the only feasible way for the tri-oxide layer to survive/recover was for it to be left The Hell alone.

[SpardaSon21]

I'm all for space flight.  A moon colony means less people on the Earth to pollute it.  Same with a Martian colony, except you can cram more people on Mars and Phobos and Deimos than on the Moon.  And just wait until we get FTL travel.  People will be abandoning the Earth in droves to settle and terraform new planets.

[iamzack]

If we start regulating our own rockets we can pressure China into doing the same before things get out of hand.

China's not doing it for any logical reason, only as a prestige thing (more or less), so they are not going to be regulated by logic.

Well it would hurt their prestige somewhat if we were all looking down on them for dirty rockets. That's why they bother to hide human rights abuses and such.

[Mobius]

The O₃ layer can be preserved in many other ways.

Such as?

Google them...

Space exploration shouldn't be halted by a handful of environmentalists.

[blackhole]

Google them...

Space exploration shouldn't be halted by a handful of environmentalists.

It doesn't need to be, it just needs some regulations on the emissions, like cars.

[Snail]

I'm all for space flight.  A moon colony means less people on the Earth to pollute it.  Same with a Martian colony, except you can cram more people on Mars and Phobos and Deimos than on the Moon.  And just wait until we get FTL travel.  People will be abandoning the Earth in droves to settle and terraform new planets.

Umm, no. At least not for another thousand or so years.

[Mobius]

It doesn't need to be, it just needs some regulations on the emissions, like cars.

What about the space elevator?

[The E]

It doesn't need to be, it just needs some regulations on the emissions, like cars.

What about the space elevator?

All we need for that would be building materials with the needed tensile strength, and research into those is ongoing (carbon nanotubes to the rescue!)

I'm all for space flight.  A moon colony means less people on the Earth to pollute it.  Same with a Martian colony, except you can cram more people on Mars and Phobos and Deimos than on the Moon.  And just wait until we get FTL travel.  People will be abandoning the Earth in droves to settle and terraform new planets.

Read this. Not the whole thread, just the blog posting. Bottom line: Space colonization is not going to happen, unless several "magical" technologies (in the Arthur C. Clarke sense) are developed that allow humans to not only go out there, but stay there indefinitely.
That said, colonizing the space near earth is most definitely possible, but I find it highly unlikely that the amount of people going up there would make a serious dent in the population totals down here. Oh, and you DO know that Phobos and Deimos are just asteroids, right?

[SpardaSon21]

And I think that we will invent super-cool technologies.  I'm an optimist when it comes to mankind's future.  I believe that mankind can and will invent all sorts of technologies, including FTL, artificial gravity, and all those other handwavium-powered advancements.  First step to all of this is working FTL.  After that we're all good.

[The E]

Then I have some bad news for you. While this doesn't mean it's impossible per se, it does mean that a solution has become just that much harder. Oh, and I'm not stopping you from believing in handwavium, I just don't expect to see any in my lifetime. (Hell, I'll be glad if we get fusion reactors to work, or understand how gravity works...)

[Mobius]

FTL is theoretically impossible, but I do believe that new technologies could really make planets like Mars habitable enough for mankind to colonize them.

But we're not going to see it. We'll be all dead.