Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!olivea!uunet!mcsun!hp4nl!phigate!philtis!munk
From: munk@cft.philips.nl (Harm Munk)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: Ozone and the shuttle
Message-ID: <1587@philtis.cft.philips.nl>
Date: 16 Apr 91 10:46:01 GMT
References: <1991Apr12.163103.11472@welch.jhu.edu> <3162@borg.cs.unc.edu>
Reply-To: munk@philtis.UUCP (Harm Munk)
Organization: Philips CFT
Lines: 56

In article <3162@borg.cs.unc.edu> leech@homer.cs.unc.edu (Jonathan Leech) writes:
>   "A report by Gar Smith in the fall issue of _Earth Island Journal_
>    restated the warnings of two Soviet rocket scientists that
>    originally appeared in _South_ magazine - that each time a U.S.
>    space shuttle is launched, 187 tons of ozone-eating molecules are
                                            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Watch this: it says ozone eating molecules, not ozone molecules.
>    released into the atmosphere.  According to Valery Burdakov, who
>    helped design the USSR's Energiya rocket engine, and his colleague
>    V.	Filin, a single shuttle flight can destroy up to 10 million
>    tons of ozone.  It would take only 300 shuttle flights to
>    completely destroy the ozone.
>
>    My comments: There seem to be a number of contradictory estimates,
>of ozone loss above.  We have 187 tons/flight, 10 million tons/flight,
                               ^^^^^^^^
No, no, ozone eating molecules are not ozone molecules (yet :-)

>25 %/flight, and 10% / ~30 flights (I don't see how these two figures
>can be resolved in the same sentence).	These estimates don't even
>come close to agreeing, and the percentage estimates don't take into
>account the natural regeneration of ozone in the upper atmosphere.
>
>    In the absence of reviewed research, I think this is all a bunch
>of hooey.  The Shuttle may well damage the ozone layer but not
>severely or over a long period.  187 tons/flight I might believe.
                                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Oops, there you go again.

>    Make of this what you will (don't flame me, I'm just quoting the
>article).  It would be interesting to hear the original material from
>Burdakov.

So would I. And don't forget that the Energya is used for commercial
launches, so mr. Burdakov might be trying to sell 'his' launcher as
environmental friendly.

On the other hand, if the shuttle exhaust does destroy some ozone, that
would be a bit wry, don't you think: putting up satellites to study the
destruction of the ozone layer with an ozone layer destroying launch
vehicle.

But let's leave speculation and go back to science. What component in
the shuttle exhaust destroys the ozone by which reaction. It must be
something in the SRB plumes, because the main engines burn LOX and LH to
simple, hot steam. Anyone like to elucidate me ?


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