EVER wondered whether rocket launches damage the ozone layer?
It seems we don’t have to worry – for the time being at least. Peter Popp and his colleagues from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration measured exhaust fumes from solid-fuel rockets and found that the total emission of ozone-damaging nitrogen compounds from today’s fleet is only a hundred thousandth of natural levels (Geophysical Research Letters, DOI: 10.1029/2002GL 015197). “Space launches won’t be a problem unless there are an awful lot of them,” says Popp.
But he warns emissions would soar if rockets were launched with hydrazine, a nitrogen-based fuel sometimes…
