> To block the necessary amount of solar radiation, the shade would have to be about a million square miles, roughly the size of Argentina, Dr. Rozen said. A shade that big would weigh at least 2.5 million tons — too heavy to launch into space, he said. So, the project would have to involve a series of smaller shades. They would not completely block the sun’s light but rather cast slightly diffused shade onto Earth, he said.
Do we have the capability to launch 2.5 millions of tons into space, even if it's split up among lots of separate crafts in separate launches?
The completed ISS is around 450 tons, for reference.
I can't even imagine how much fuel it would take, even if we had enough reusable rockets.
I'm not necessarily philosophically opposed to the idea -- I'm just wondering if it's even achievable. The idea of filling the atmosphere with particles to reflect sunlight seems to accomplish the same thing, but far easier to do.
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[ 1.7 ms ] story [ 18.9 ms ] threadDo we have the capability to launch 2.5 millions of tons into space, even if it's split up among lots of separate crafts in separate launches?
The completed ISS is around 450 tons, for reference.
I can't even imagine how much fuel it would take, even if we had enough reusable rockets.
I'm not necessarily philosophically opposed to the idea -- I'm just wondering if it's even achievable. The idea of filling the atmosphere with particles to reflect sunlight seems to accomplish the same thing, but far easier to do.