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| Virgin Galactic's Mothership and SpaceShip Two (6.) |
For those who need a refresher on global warming, it is the continual rising of the temperature of Earth’s atmosphere, thanks to the amount of carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases, and many other harmful pollutants in the air. If global warming continues, the consequences will be dire; the polar ice caps will melt, the sea level will rise, and even arctic animals will die (due to the change of their environment). There have been many procedures that people have followed, in order to try and slow down global warming. Examples of these procedures include recycling paper, carpooling, and even taking shorter showers. Although many people follow these methods, global warming is increasing at a much faster rate, because of the soot emissions that rocket launches are exhausting, as well as other contributions, such as the burning of forests and savannah grasslands. Lauren Morello, the author of “Cutting Soot Emissions May Slow Climate Change in the Arctic,” argues that cutting down on the emission of soot is one of the quickest ways to slow down the rate of global warming. Furthermore, Morello states that cutting back on soot emission in a 15 year span can result in the reduction of the earth’s warming by 17 to 23 percent. The reason for this is because soot emissions only stay in the atmosphere for a short amount of time, rather than a lengthy period, such as carbon dioxide, which stays in the air for over 50 years. Cutting back will decrease the amount of soot in the atmosphere, which will result in soot absorbing less solar energy.
Virgin Galactic appears to be one of Earth’s best solutions to its problem. Although recycling and those other methods may have some effect, Virgin Galactic will make a much larger change by itself. Virgin Galactic is an American based, British owned company that plans to provide commercial spaceflights to the public. Sometime in the near future, it will have its own spaceport, named “Spaceport America,” in New Mexico. Traveling with them will be costly, as the cost to reserve a seat for a space trip is $250,000. Why does it cost so much? My best guess is because since it is a brand new industry, the demand for purchasing tickets is at an extremely high level. Virgin Galactic is a much bigger factor in improving our status in global warming than most people think. Matteo Emanuelli, the author of “Branson Claims SpaceShipTwo is Environmentally Benign,” observes that the ship is more environmentally friendly than other space shuttles. Unlike traditional space shuttles, the hybrid engines of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo doesn’t burn as much fuel or need enormous rockets to reach suborbitals altitudes. According to Virgin Galactic’s website, their spacecrafts have a carbon composite construction, which is four times the strength of traditional steel, but only a quarter of the weight. As a result of the spacecraft being so light, the spacecraft does not require the disposable rockets, that you would see during space shuttle launches, to reach those altitudes. With no disposable rockets on the spacecraft, there will not be any debris left over that pollutes a habitat on the ground, or even in the water. The fact that Virgin Galactic’s ships do not require as much fuel and power to launch as conventional shuttles support that argument that they’re much more efficient and environmentally friendly than regular spacecrafts.
Tanya Lewis, the author of “How Virgin Galactic Private SpaceShipTwo Will Launch Science Flights,” argues that Virgin Galactic’s ships don’t have to be just for commercial purposes. She states that space shuttles can also help out with scientific research. Furthermore, she digresses that scientists can fly along with their equipment, or just send them up on flights dedicated for payloads. To reduce weight on the spacecraft, pilots can remove seats, which also makes room for the equipment. In order to further research, Virgin Galactic is looking to mount experiments outside of the ship, for specific purposes, of course. One example of an experiment that Virgin Galactic will help conduct will involve the collection of particles that are floating in space. Perhaps in the future, Virgin Galactic can make trips that are beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, such as to the moon, or even deep space, for scientific exploration and discovery.
Due to Virgin Galactic’s efficacy, Earth will soon reduce its ongoing problem of global warming. Thanks to their techniques and strategies, such as using hybrid engines, rather than the traditional shuttle engines, the spacecrafts will be as environmentally-friendly as possible. Although soot emissions stay up in the atmosphere for only a few weeks, the cut in emissions will make a major impact. With the cut in emissions, there will be less soot, or black carbon, in the atmosphere absorbing the sun’s energy. Global warming has baffled the world for quite some time now, but I believe with the implementation of the aircraft shuttle Virgin Galactic, the pressing issue can be lessened.
Works Cited
(1.) “Space hitch-hiker” Nature 467 (October 27, 2010) http://goo.gl/A5Z1Ik(2.) Lauren Morello, “Cutting Soot Emissions May Slow Climate Change in the Arctic,” Scientific American, Climatewire, August 2, 2010, http://goo.gl/kJdaT3
(3.) “Black Carbon Causes Twice As Much Global Warming Than Previously Thought,” The Guardian, January 15, 2013, http://goo.gl/3haL9m
(4.) Matteo Emanuelli, “Branson Claims SpaceShipTwo is Environmentally Benign,” Space Safety Magazine, May 14, 2013, http://goo.gl/dBDsHS
(5.) Tanya Lewis, “How Virgin Galactic Private SpaceShipTwo Will Launch Science Flights,” Space.com, October 19, 2013, http://goo.gl/0dzuSQ
(6.) Photo credited to Tom Wigley, http://goo.gl/bqTq4U
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