Why can't we dump our extra trash in space?

Question

i mean we always have this extra trash so why can't we leave on a planet since there is so much of space or we can just send a rocket with no people,just trash to the sun.i mean it will just burn up and its not like we use any other rocket again so this wouldn't be a waste of money either.

Answer 1

Sounds good until you remember the fact that rockets aside from being really expensive, do blow up on occasion at liftoff or during the ascent. They can also malfunction and fail to reach orbit, falling back to Earth. The upper stage could fail to fire or shut down too soon, leaving it stuck in Earth orbit and leaving a bunch of junk in space that could destroy another spacecraft or satellite in a collision. Now imagine what could happen if that rocket which malfunctioned or exploded was carrying something like high level nuclear waste, something highly toxic or carrying a deadly and very infectious disease organism. With a failure rate of up to 5 percent, lofting garbage, especially hazardous waste, is unwise to say the least.

Answer 2

Because building and launching a rocket that can put 1 ton of trash in space produces more than 1 ton of trash. Just the first stage falling into the ocean usually weighs more than the payload that finally makes it to space. It is REALLY hard to get to space. Rockets are REALLY inefficient but they are the only way we have right now to get to space. Maybe something better will be invented in the future, but for now we are stuck with rockets.

Answer 3

Not only is it just too costly (in terms of energy and $$) to get it off the surface of the earth and into orbit, it turns out to drop the stuff into the sun (which would indeed truly get rid of it) you'd have to use a lot more rocket fuel to remove the orbital energy the stuff would have because it is traveling along with the earth in the earth's orbit.

Again, just think about the size of the rocket required to send the Apollo spacecraft to the moon -- what made it to the moon was a small portion of the whole rocket.

Answer 4

What makes you think we aren't already doing it? Space.com says>>
A 1999 study estimated there are some 4 million pounds of space junk in low-Earth orbit, just one part of a celestial sea of roughly 110,000 objects larger than 1 centimeter -- each big enough to damage a satellite or space-based telescope.

Some of the objects, baseball-sized and bigger, could threaten the lives of astronauts in a space shuttle or the International Space Station. As an example of the hazard, a tiny speck of paint from a satellite once dug a pit in a space shuttle window nearly a quarter-inch wide.<<

From the other answers you can see how much this has all cost, too!! Now the Chinese have lobbed up a target and then blown it up from Earth creating millions more pieces of junk ruining THAT environment too!!

Answer 5

Because the cost of putting something into space is over $100 a pound ($200 a kilo).

That makes for a mighty high garbage disposal bill.

Answer 6

This idea has been thought of alot in the past and the cost is just astronomical, No way would anyone foot the bill on it, even if other countrys pitched in then it would still be more money than possible,,

Answer 7

Why can't we, well its been forwarded to environmental protection agency thats related to NASA's program, think of it as preserving space. More importantly, if your about to launch off a shuttle would you want to get killed by a flying rusted metal skillet speeding at more than 1060 MPH? Don't think so. Also space dumping is illegal and dangerous. most damaged satellites are due to speeding space junk hitting the satellite. hope that answer your question.

Answer 8

There is no rocket in service that can escape the Earth's gravitational field, only those that can get into orbit. That trash won't be going anywhere. In fact, you can be sure it'll come back and bite us in the @$$, one way or another.

Answer 9

Because in order for the payoff to be equivalent to the price you would pretty much have to take all of the trash in the world in one load

Answer 10

It is simply a cost issue. One answer above said it was over $100 per pound but it is really closer to $10,000 per pound to send something into orbit.