Space Launches

What a shot. Taken in 1998, this awesome image shows NASA’s Lunar
Prospector spacecraft shooting into the sky above Cape Canaveral,
riding an Athena II rocket. Destination is in sight. Captured in time
exposure, the fiery launch tail forms an arch in the foreground, while the
moon, near its first quarter phase, looks on, some 250,000 miles away.
Prospector will cover the distance in about 5 days. Prepare for blast-off
as we explore stunning photos of space launches and wonder what it all
means from an environmental point of view.

The Prospector mission carried an array of instruments to map the

surface composition and other facets of the Earth’s only natural satellite.
The results improved our understanding of the Moon’s origin, evolution
and resources, yet we still managed to make our mark there in what
some might see as a slightly bungling and absurd manner. From its
orbital vantage point, just 63 miles above the Moon’s surface, Prospector
was deliberately crashed into a crater near the lunar south pole in a
failed attempt to detect the presence of water. Maybe it was worth a shot.
 Speaking of shots, check out the one above. It’s
another stunner. According to NASA’s website:
“Birds don’t fly this high. Airplanes don’t go this
fast. The Statue of Liberty weighs less. No species
other than human can even comprehend the
event. The launch of a rocket bound for space
inspires awe and challenges description.” Nice
words to accompany an even nicer image. What is
it that so challenges description? The Space
Shuttle Atlantis, lifting off to drop by on the
International Space Station in 2001. It’s a case of
blink and you’ll miss it with Atlantis, which is due to
be retired in 2010.
This next humdinger depicts Atlantis’s sister Space
Shuttle Endeavour as it races into space on an
International Space Station assembly mission in
2008. The spectacle was captured from the Florida
waterfront by an amateur photographer, though he
should consider himself something of a pro after
taking this shot. More a pillar of smoke than a fiery
arc, the glow amidst the encroaching darkness and
almost tornado-like formation of the plume are
nonetheless tremendously beautiful. You wonder
whether the reason these photos are so striking is
that the spacecraft themselves aren’t in them.
 Well let’s see. Here we see a picture of Endeavour
from a different angle as it rockets into the night sky
on the same record-breaking 16-day mission to
deliver the first part of the Japan’s Kibo lab and a
Canadian robotic arm to the Space Station. Is the
launch less aesthetically pleasing now? Perhaps
we’re on the wrong track here; perhaps what matters
is less the visible beauty of the launch than the
sublime fact that spaceflight is advancing the
knowledge of humankind. Even so, a glance at
those exhaust fumes does raise the question of how
much space launches are detrimental to the
environment. So what is the price of this greater
good?
Apparently, the amount of shuttle fuel consumed in
one of these launches is equivalent to just two
minutes of gasoline consumption in the US in a
day. The exhaust gas of the main engines is
furthermore made up of water vapour and so does
not harm the atmosphere. There are still carbon
emissions to consider, and the solid fuel
propellants used produce clouds that could impact
on the local environment. Still, many other human
activities have such effects and that plume is not
as damaging as people might suspect.
Shuttle launches undoubtedly affect the environment,
both directly with their emissions and indirectly
through the energy expenditure of manufacturing
propellants and parts. However, this pales in
comparison with the amount of pollution caused
around the clock by air travel. What’s more, each
launch is part of the bigger picture that is space
exploration, the long-term benefits of which may far
outweigh its costs as we overcrowd our small planet.
We leave you with a shot of the soon-to-be defunct
Space Shuttle Atlantis launching at sunset, the
shadow of its plume, cast across the sky, intersecting
with the rising full moon.