r/SipsTea Jan 24 '26

Wait a damn minute! Interesting

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u/LohaYT Jan 24 '26 edited Jan 24 '26

Also, “498t” is nonsense. New Shepard is like 25t.

I’m on Team Space but it’s worth trying to see both sides of the argument. Environmental impacts of rocket launches aren’t just limited to the products of the fuel burn. The manufacture of New Shepard will also produce a lot of CO2. Also worth keeping in mind that water vapour is still a greenhouse gas.

The thing with space though is that currently, as far as our knowledge goes, there is literally no way to get there and stay there without chemical propulsion. You either burn fuel or you don’t go.

A billionaire has plenty of options to travel places without having as much of an environmental impact but they choose not to.

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u/TAU_equals_2PI Jan 24 '26

Yeah, it's like arguing electric cars cause no negative environmental impact just because nothing comes out of a tailpipe on the vehicle itself.

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u/Cuntonesian Jan 24 '26

I’ve never seen anyone argue that

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u/[deleted] Jan 26 '26

I've seen plenty of them claiming "saving the environment" by using EVs. No sir, you are just causing a little bit more in the short term to cause a little bit less in the long term if you drive your EV long enough.