How much pollution do the SOLID BOOSTER rockets during a space launch,add to the environment. Can there be

Answer 1

The boosters are pretty toxic. Perchlorate has been linked to all sorts of health problems.

Paradoxically, this is good for the environment. WHY?

Because people can't live in the vicinity of a launch site. So the area around the launch site effectively becomes a nature preserve. Vandenberg AFB is the most pristine piece of California's central coast, and home to lots of endangered species that don't mind a bit of rocket polution (or the risk of a botched launch) every now and then. Compared to the pollution from cars which constantly spew pollution hour after hour, day after day, the occasional rocket launch is no big deal.

Answer 2

This Q really belongs on the Chemistry board, but I’ll offer my hunch of an A.

Not much of a chemist, but I think the exhaust products resemble gypsum powder, which is natural and not especially bad for the environment. It is used to make drywall, which is what the interior walls of your house are probably made of. It’s like the dust cloud behind a truck crossing a gypsum mining area, except it’s in the sky. The dust settles mainly into the Atlantic Ocean, where it is not harmful.

I seem to be contradicting Bekki B. Like I said, I'm no chemist, but ammonium perchlorate doesn't come out the tail of the booster; it combines with the other ingredients in a chemical reaction. They don't want people living near the launch site for several reasons; mainly security and the possibility of a rocket going off course and exploding on the ground a few miles from the launching pad.

However, there is some pollution associated with the production of the oxidizer. I used to work occasionally at one of the plants where it is made, in Henderson, Nevada. I had to carry a gas respirator for safety; accidental releases of chlorine gas were common; occasionally, they had to evacuate the whole town.

All sorts of chemicals, including ammonium perchlorate, were stored in huge open piles on the ground. At least once, they had a huge flash flood which left a bathtub ring four feet above the ground. Alas, poor dessert! There was another incident in which a truckload of ammonium perchlorate leaked, leaving a trail of the stuff about a hundred miles long on the highway.

Back in the 1980's, there was some spy vs. spy activity involving ammonium perchlorate. I think it started with a trainload the stuff blowing up in the USSR. A couple of weeks later, one of the plants in Henderson had a huge fire with a series of explosions, which you probably saw on one of those amazing home video TV shows. I think the official story was that the stuff was stored in a huge pile directly above an underground gas main, which mysteriously sprung a leak. That reminds me of an episode of “Reilly Ace of Spies”. I think the Challenger disaster was next.

Answer 3

That depends on the mass and the composition of propellant.

The link below states that the propellant consists ammonium perchlorate (oxidizer, 69.6 percent by weight), aluminum (fuel, 16 percent), iron oxide (a catalyst, 0.4 percent), a polymer (a binder that holds the mixture together, 12.04 percent), and an epoxy curing agent (1.96 percent).

Answer 4

Miniscule

Answer 5

As many tons as the fuel weighs. ~