Some atmospheric researchers are suggesting that rocket launches may ultimately have to be restricted in number to avoid serious damage to the Earth's protective ozone layer.
Future ozone losses from the increasing number of rocket launches could eventually exceed the damage caused by chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, the chemical compounds banned from use in aerosols, freezers and air conditioners, they conclude in a new study.
Future ozone losses from the increasing number of rocket launches could eventually exceed the damage caused by chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, the chemical compounds banned from use in aerosols, freezers and air conditioners, they conclude in a new study.
"As the rocket launch market grows, so will ozone-destroying rocket emissions," said Darin Toohey, a professor in the atmospheric and oceanic sciences department at the University of Colorado at Boulder. "If left unregulated, rocket launches by the year 2050 could result in more ozone destruction than was ever realized by CFCs."
Toohey's research, based on measurements of pollutants emitted by current rocket launches and projections of future launches, in conjunction with authors from the Aerospace Corp. and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, appeared online in March in the journal Astropolitics.
Without Earth's ozone layer, exposure from the sun's harmful radiation would make life on the planet's surface impossible. Several decades ago, scientists began to notice the ozone layer was being eaten away, most famously over Antarctica, due to chemical reactions eventually traced to chlorofluorocarbons. In 1987, CFCs were banned from industrial uses, leading to predictions that the ozone layer would recover by 2040.
Global rocket launches, currently at more than 100 per year, deplete the ozone layer by less than 1% annually, Toohey said. But as the number of launches increases with plans by some nations, including the U.S., to colonize the moon and venture to Mars, the problem could become serious, he said.Toohey's research, based on measurements of pollutants emitted by current rocket launches and projections of future launches, in conjunction with authors from the Aerospace Corp. and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, appeared online in March in the journal Astropolitics.
Without Earth's ozone layer, exposure from the sun's harmful radiation would make life on the planet's surface impossible. Several decades ago, scientists began to notice the ozone layer was being eaten away, most famously over Antarctica, due to chemical reactions eventually traced to chlorofluorocarbons. In 1987, CFCs were banned from industrial uses, leading to predictions that the ozone layer would recover by 2040.
Rockets use a variety of propellants -- solids, liquids and hybrids. Little is known about how each affects the ozone layer.
"I am optimistic that we are going to solve this problem, but we are not going to solve it by doing nothing," Toohey said.
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