Why Can't We Just Launch Waste Into the Sun?

nivek

nivek

As Above So Below
I'm calling a little bunk on this explanation of rocket velocities departing earth to the sun, why can't we send a rocket forwards in earth's orbit instead of behind?. Then there's the issue of using more energy to reach our sun than another star, I have to give it some deeper thought but these two things don't seem right.

Why We Can't Just Launch Waste Into the Sun Explained in 3 Minutes

First, there's the issue that sometimes rockets explode, and if they are full of nuclear waste that is gonna be a bad time for a lot of people. But even assuming there are no accidents, the process would be hard. Earth is orbiting the sun at about 30 km/s, which is more than 65,000 mph. So to get a rocket to fall into the sun, we would need to launch it with enough energy to accelerate to 65,000 mph in the opposite direction of Earth's orbit. Anything short of that just puts the spacecraft in an elliptical orbit that never hits the star. New Horizons, the fastest spacecraft ever launched, left the Earth at only 36,000 mph.

In fact, we only need to launch a spacecraft at 11 km/s, or less than 25,000 mph, in the same direction of our orbit to cause the spacecraft to escape our solar system. This means that it would take less energy to launch a spacecraft to another star than our own sun (though it would take years and years to get there).
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Toroid

Toroid

Founding Member
There would also be an issue with the coriolis effect. Coriolis force - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Know It All: Why Does NASA Launch Their Shuttles from Florida?
Florida is closer to the Equator than any other part of the contiguous 48 United States. The Earth’s linear velocity is fastest at the Equator (translation: the Earth spins “fastest” at its center) and any launch made close to the Equator can better take advantage of the Earth’s natural rotational speed, thus saving on fuel, rocket power, etc. For comparison, the European Space Agency uses a launch site in French Guiana (5 degrees above the Equator).
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Toroid

Toroid

Founding Member
At any other place than the equator there would be a torsion effect. Toilet water spins counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere, clockwise in the southern and straight down at the equator. I wonder if that applies to ancient astronaut theory and they would also have their launching platforms near the equator.
 
D

Dundee

Fading day by day.
Toroid said:
At any other place than the equator there would be a torsion effect. Toilet water spins counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere, clockwise in the southern and straight down at the equator. I wonder if that applies to ancient astronaut theory and they would also have their launching platforms near the equator.
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I thought this was a Myth?
 
3FEL9

3FEL9

Islander
What kind of waste would that be ? Most is possible to process ( burn in CHP plants ) and or recycle. Even nuclear waste ( special type of reactors )
Think the enourmous costs related to using the Sun as an incinerator will be the major drawback.
 
D

Dundee

Fading day by day.
3FEL9 said:
What kind of waste would that be ? Most is possible to process ( burn in CHP plants ) and or recycle. Even nuclear waste ( special type of reactors )
Think the enourmous costs related to using the Sun as an incinerator will be the major drawback.
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That space platform would make it more practical though, if you had the carbon fibere ladder leading to a geostationary waste platform. It could be positioned in such a way as to use the rotation of the earth to sent pods of waste towards the sun. The cost of sending it up the elevator would be minimal, minimal guidance on the pods, no need for life support, minimal telemetry. Minimal propulsion, No reason you couldn't have a steady stream of pods in convoy heading for the sun. Wouldn't matter if they even took years to get there really. So long as they were tracked and managed in some fashion. And not dotted all over the solar system.
 
3FEL9

3FEL9

Islander
Good thinking.. The space ladder... :D But just what kind of waste cant we manage properly here on Earth ?

Nuclear "waste" should be prepped and burnt again
 
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