However innovative, not everyone is positive about it. Greenpeace, among others, points to the polluting aspect of such space travel. According to the environmental organization, the emissions from Bezos’ space journey are 278 times greater than the average emissions of a world citizen in an entire year. “That’s another ego trip!”, the organization tweeted yesterday.
It is difficult to say exactly how much pollution the short space trips cause. But according to Professor of Astronomy Vincent Icke, Greenpeace’s estimate is quite reasonable. According to him, it is indisputable that space travel is harmful to the environment. “We’re spraying outright rubbish into the atmosphere,” says Icke.
‘The more missiles, the more emissions’
Even if the space trips do not last long – in the case of Bezos even a few minutes – according to astronomer Lucas Ellerbroek, there are indeed a lot of emissions: “You have to achieve a much higher speed than with an airplane. Every rocket you launch extra creates pollution.” according to a scientist from University College London this concerns about 200 to 300 tons of CO2 per launch.
The Blue Origin rocket engine does run on hydrogen and liquid oxygen and therefore mainly emits water vapour. But as clean as that sounds, its production involves a lot of CO2 emissions.
“The more rockets that go into the air, the more emissions there will be,” says Ellerbroek. “And that in the time when we insist on the importance of driving an electric car and flying less.” According to him, there is no prospect of a clean alternative. “Parties invest too little in that.”
This also applies to pollution in the room itself. According to Ellerbroek, there are no rules for pollution in space and who is responsible for cleaning it up. “It’s a sanctuary. Musk’s company SpaceX is launching tens of thousands of satellites for the Starlink constellation, without sufficient accountability for who cleans up the mess.”
‘Scientific success misused for advertising’
And then there’s the scientific aspect. Because what do the ultra-short trips of billionaires yield in terms of knowledge? Professor Icke is short about this: “Nothing. It is better to shoot 80 kilos of instruments into space than 80 kilos of people.”
Icke is a strong supporter of space missions involving research. “People like André Kuipers have work to do up there. But if you go 100 kilometers above the earth’s surface with a piss-bowl, that doesn’t help,” says the professor. “There’s nothing you do up there that we can’t research better on Earth. It’s sad for us scientists that the gigantic achievements of science are being misused for this kind of advertising.”
‘Frivolity in a time when bad things happen’
Still, astronomer Ellerbroek understands why space travel now seems so popular with those who can afford it. “Space travel is futuristic and that’s cool. It’s a frivolity at a time when bad things happen, it’s a form of escapism.”
Gravity researcher Jack van Loon of the VU University Amsterdam also says that space has an enormous attraction. He therefore understands why people pay high amounts for a space trip.
But at the same time, he says, an important aspect is being overlooked: health. “For short trips it’s not a problem, but if we go to Mars in the future, as Elon Musk wants, the consequences of being weightless are definitely problematic.” Those who are weightless for a long time can suffer from nausea, headaches and decalcification of the bones, for example.
Van Loon: “You also have to deal with a bucket of cosmic radiation.” That’s because you leave Earth’s magnetosphere as soon as you go into space. “The Earth has a magnetic shell around it. That shield stops this dangerous radiation on Earth,” explains Van Loon.
Professor Icke calls space tourism all in all “a bad idea”. “I understand there’s commerce in it, it’s fascinating to see the Earth from a distance,” he says. “But what will soon happen is that people put down a big bag of money, are thrown 100 kilometers into the air and fall back down again. Rather invest that money in things that benefit the earth.”
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