Abstract
Technogeneous impact of rocket and space activities on the environment is one of the most actual problems of practical cosmonautics. This technogeneous impact is not only the pollution of near Earth space with space debris (worked-off stages of space launch vehicle (SLV)), but also the pollution of significant areas on the Earth surface with worked-off lower stages of SLV, which fall down after having accomplished their mission. In OmSTU and IPCP RAS it was suggested to apply different self-burning compositions, generating hot gases for the evaporation of the unused residues of liquid propellant in tanks of SLV. Then the mixture of the evaporated compounds together with the gaseous combustion products from gas-generating compositions is used as propellant mixture for the autonomous gas rocket engine. Such a solution would decrease considerably the level of the environment pollution and additionally it increases the energetic characteristics of SLV. For example, in the case of the second stage of SLV «Soyuz-2.1.v» it increases the total velocity by 5%. Also it is proposed to use firing the pyrotechnic compositions like (thermites) for the fairings heating up to the temperature when the fairing material can be ignited in air. It would reduce considerably the amount and the mass of the separating parts of SLV that fall to the Earth.
Highlights
At the end of the XX century, when it became clear that the pollution because of the rocket-space activities has already reached the level when artificial space objects began to collide in space, it was decided to change the approach to the design of space launch vehicles (SLV) and space crafts (SC) for a considerable reduction of the environmental threat because of the rocket space activity
Years of SLV launching since the beginning of the space era have already led to a sad fact that in orbits up to 2000 km high more than 800 worked-off stages of SLV have been accumulated, with total weight being more than 1200 t [6]
The most ΔT growth may be reached with the use of Mg stoichiometric compositions with CrO3, MoO3, MnO2, Sb2O5 (ΔT = 500 °C may be obtained at 7.5‒11.0% pyrotechnic compositions (PC)), the least ones – with Bi2O3, BaO2, SnO2, PbO2 (ΔT = 500o may be reached at least at 16‒24% PC)
Summary
During a few first decades of the space exploration the designers of rocket-space technologies did not pay attention to the fate of the launching objects after they have accomplished their missions [1]. At the end of the XX century, when it became clear that the pollution because of the rocket-space activities has already reached the level when artificial space objects began to collide in space, it was decided to change the approach to the design of space launch vehicles (SLV) and space crafts (SC) for a considerable reduction of the environmental threat because of the rocket space activity. As for the near Earth space pollution, the main problem is the increase of the amount of space debris (especially, long-measuring such as upper stages of launch vehicles and space crafts) after they have accomplished their missions [4, 5]. Years of SLV launching since the beginning of the space era have already led to a sad fact that in orbits up to 2000 km high (the orbit area of the near Earth space that is the most applying for SC moving) more than 800 worked-off stages of SLV have been accumulated, with total weight being more than 1200 t [6]
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