Why don't we launch our garbage into space?

[Jroo wuz heer]

The cost of creating a completely unmanned rocket aimed and fueled specifically so's not to orbit earth (or smash the moon, that would suck) that was big enough to actually make a significant difference would be ENORMOUS

 

[deleted_scifidownbeat]

DELETED

 

[sam13lfc]

Well we've already got tonnes of things flying about out there, and it costs a LOT just to launch one spacecraft. It's pretty much economically impossible.

 

[DkLnBr]

Hate to introduce real points to an argument like this on a forum, but here we go:

1) cost: it currently costs $20,000 USD per Kg to launch a payload into space. Go check your trash bag. Probably 1kg-2kg alone.
http://www.futron.com/pdf/resource_center/white_papers/FutronLaunchCostWP.pdf

2) Retrieval. Despite making an enormous mess when burying, it leaves the possibility of retrieving resources from it in the future. Once you launch something off the planet, that matter cannot be used again.

Also there might be some unforeseen implications of throwing garbage into space too, after all we once thought dumping garbage into the ocean was a great way to get rid of trash, but thats starting to bit us in the ass.

 

[Delock]

Because it hitting a Turian ship will be the real reason Mass Effect's first contact war starts.

Really though, it's because, as mentioned, it cost too much to get it into space. In the words of the comedian Dan Cummins: "I found out that space travel is pretty expensive... and then I found out why. It turns out space... is pretty far away."

 

[Sinisterair]

Everyone's wanting a greener earth, right? We're all concerned about landfills and I was recently reading about the great plastic ocean. I've always wondered why we don't just take our garbage and blast it into space?

I know that some of it is biodegradable, but alot of it isn't. So why don't we just take the stuff that isn't and launch it somewhere far away. Pioneer has been travelling since like the sixties, right? And it only "recently" left our solar system. So, chunking a huge bunch of garbage out there wouldn't be bad for the space environment. As for the cost, it could create jobs as well as probably be done with joint ventures of sending up satelites or something.

(ITT: Bad spelling)

you have to think about it like this if we sent everything in landfills into space we'd be losing all the minerals and whatnot thats built up into it, sure we cant do it now but if we hastaily sent it all away we couldnt use it for something else recycleing is a btr alternative and also we can get methane gas off of the land fills and use that, so there not totally useless, the earth is a closed system and we have everything we need here but we cant gain anymore of it so sending stuff out would be losing which would be irrisponsible

 

[gamefreakbsp]

I may be that it is too expensive to shuttle the world's garbage into space.

 

[RanD00M]

Did you learn nothing from that Futurama episode.If we were to launch it into space,it would come back one day to bite us in the ass.

 

[Weaver]

Because of how MUCH garbage we have. Launching it all would be almost impossible. We could only launch a fraction of a fraction of a fraction at once, it wouldn't be worth it.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

It'd cost MASSIVE amounts of money.

 

[TheTaco007]

It's really, really fucking expensive. Plus, if we miss the sun we might accidentally end up creating life on another planet somewhere. Who knows?

 

[Redingold]

It would cost huge sums of cash, rockets aren't exactly green, it removes the option to recycle that rubbish, it wouldn't make enough of an impact and it adds even more crap into orbit that could seriously damage a satellite. Besides, rockets aren't 100% reliable, and no-one wants a rocket full of garbage exploding above you and raining it down everywhere.

 

[GundamSentinel]

- le snip -

1. Horrendously expensive, in no way cost effective, even if it creates massive employment.

2. Pioneer left the solar system for now, but it gravity will pull it back eventually.

3. We have enough garbage floating is space as it is, damaging satellites every day. See what one pulverised Chinese satellite did? Before you know it your GPS is out.

4. Earth's gravity alone is a massive *****, try getting the garbage in a stable orbit without it falling back within weeks if you don't use expensive orbital attitude control on every piece of garbage.

5. Sending it into space creates even more garbage, not to mention pollution.

6. Ever heard of recycling or cradle to cradle?

 

[archvile93]

Because something that expensive would just about double our taxes.

 

[Xero Scythe]

NASA actually already had this argument. These were their main reasons for no:
1: it could hit one of the satellites in space, which could cause global disaster (Fallout, anyone?)
2: It could hit some of the junk already in space, and that stuff could hurtle down to earth and take out a city or two,
3: yes, the futurama plot. It could go around a planet, have the slingshot effect, and then come back to hit us in the face. Finally,
4: Do you know how freakin' much it costs for a single shuttle to go up to the moon? One shuttle wouldn't be enough for the trash in Chicago. Even if we tried using a cannon, we would have to use a 95 megaton ICBM to merely power the damn thing. It's just impossible.

 

[starwarsgeek]

Someone's been watching too much Futurama.

or not enough

 

[jamescorck]

We don't do that because Futurama taught us not to do so.

 

[asinann]

Because the cost is way WAY too high.

 

[Burwood123]

The main reason that it would be impossible to send it up is because it costs $440,000 to send up a pound of any substance. Garbage, food, water even air

 

[The Heik]

Everyone's wanting a greener earth, right? We're all concerned about landfills and I was recently reading about the great plastic ocean. I've always wondered why we don't just take our garbage and blast it into space?

I know that some of it is biodegradable, but alot of it isn't. So why don't we just take the stuff that isn't and launch it somewhere far away. Pioneer has been travelling since like the sixties, right? And it only "recently" left our solar system. So, chunking a huge bunch of garbage out there wouldn't be bad for the space environment. As for the cost, it could create jobs as well as probably be done with joint ventures of sending up satelites or something.

(ITT: Bad spelling)

Because it cost an arm and a leg in fuel just to get stuff up into space, and a rocket needs LOT of fuel, so we'd actually be doing more damage to our planet. At least until we invent mass drivers