Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!aoab314
From: aoab314@ut-emx.UUCP (Srinivas Bettadpur)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Space Shuttle and the Ozone layer
Message-ID: <34371@ut-emx.UUCP>
Date: 24 Jul 90 16:27:07 GMT
Reply-To: aoab314@ut-emx.UUCP (Srinivas Bettadpur)
Distribution: na
Organization: Center for Space Research, U of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Lines: 31


Howdy folks,
       I was reading this rather interesting article in the third world
business magazine SOUTH (issue of June 1990, pg 105).  This article
reports a study by two Soviet scientists V. Burdakov and V. Filin
on the effects of space shuttle flights on the depletion of the ozone
layer.  Some salient numbers from that article are :

  U.S. Space Shuttle :
            Solid propellant fuels; Before reaching an altitude of 50
km, one flight emits 187 tonnes of Chlorine
                       7 tonnes of Nitrogen
                     177 tonnes of Aluminium Oxide aerosols
    estimated destruction of 10 million tonnes of ozone, requiring
a total of 300 flights to completely destroy the ozone layer.

  The Delta rocket destroys about 8 million tonnnes of ozone and other
culprits include the Titan II, Ariane V and other rockets using solid
propellants.

  Incidentally, the Energiya, with its mix of oxygen and hydocarbon
fuel for first stage and a mix of hydrogen-oxygen for second stage,
destroys only 1500 tonnes of ozone.

  Knowing squat about either the shuttle or the chemistry of its
propulsion, I thought this might be a good place to start to cast
about for further information.
                                   S. Bettadpur
  Bitnet  :  aoab314 @ utchpc
  Other   :  aoab314@frio.chpc.utexas.edu
             aoab314@emx.cc.utexas.edu