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Numismatists t1_iyevibv wrote

These findings demonstrate an urgent need to develop environmental regulation to mitigate damage from this rapidly growing industry.

Rocket emissions of black carbon (BC) produce substantial global mean radiative forcing of 8 mW m−2 after just 3 years of routine space tourism launches. This is a much greater contribution to global radiative forcing (6%) than emissions (0.02%) of all other BC sources, as radiative forcing per unit mass emitted is ∼500 times more than surface and aviation sources. The O3 damage and climate effect we estimate should motivate regulation of an industry poised for rapid growth.

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vibrunazo t1_iyf0vml wrote

That's speculating a future where space tourism became routine on rockets running either RP1 or hypergolics... Doesn't even mention the one rocket that actually has a shot of making space tourism routine..

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404_Gordon_Not_Found t1_iyf52lu wrote

Exactly, the one running the most space tourism flights rn is Blue Origin which uses a hydrolox rocket that emits no carbon exhaust.

SpaceX is using RP1 but moving to cleaner fuel, the article is completely detached from reality.

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