Source: https://www.linkedin.com/
The incredible crewed Space X launched on the 30th May, 2020 astonished everyone where two astronauts successfully left the earth’s atmosphere to dock with the international space station on a semi reusable rocket. Not only is high grade aviation fuel being burned but also a lot of oxygen is being used up in the combustion process. The total carbon footprint from the Kerosene and Oxygen is around 1115 Tones where the Kerosene has a carbon intensity 3Kg carbon per Kg of Kerosene that generates 465 tonnes and The Oxygen used is produced from a cryogenic process which uses electricity to chill air to release the oxygen that generates 650 tonnes. If we take our carbon number for our launch then we get to a carbon footprint for space travel of around 3.1 million tonnes in only a few years time - along with damage to the ozone layer along with soot in the upper atmosphere. As space travel expands and Mars looks increasingly possible it will become more important to manage the footprint here on earth of our aspirations to explore our solar system.