SpaceX, Blue Origin, and dozens of other private companies had helped make 2021 the year when the most significant space launch in history was launched. Still, scientists say that this spacecraft could cause further damage to our atmosphere.
The number of submission efforts has doubled over the past decade. And after counting all the planned launches for 2022, the current year will surpass last year’s record. But the introduction of the rockets comes with the release of large objects and the impact of a space that is not fully understood.
Now, two scientists have added to a growing body of knowledge suggesting that the race to leave Earth could damage our planet and our health. Researchers refer to webcast videos to model SpaceX’s presentation of sensitive information. Their simulations have shown that exhaust from a rocket releases an astonishing amount of carbon dioxide that changes the climate and harmful nitrogen oxides at higher levels of the atmosphere.
“Rocket pollution should not be underestimated as regular launch of rockets could have a profound effect on climate,” the researchers wrote in their paper, published Tuesday in the journal Physics of Fluids. They also say that the launch of a rocket could be detrimental to a person’s future health.
“At the moment, the risk is low because a small number of initiatives are taking place,” Dimitris Drikakis, a physicist and engineer at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus and author of a new study, explained in an email to Gizmodo. “The problem could be bigger if it is presented regularly.”
