This Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) addresses the environmental impacts which may be caused by the preparation and operation of the Ulysses spacecraft, including its planned launch on the Space Transportation System (STS) Shuttle and the alternative of canceling further work on the mission. The launch configuration will use the STS/Inertial Upper Stage (IUS)/Payload Assist Module-Special (PAM-S) combination. The Tier 1 EIS included a delay alternative which considered the Titan 4 launch vehicle as an alternative booster stage for launch in 1991 or later. However, the U.S. Air Force, which procures the Titan 4 for NASA, could not provide a Titan 4 vehicle for the 1991 launch opportunity because of high priority Department of Defense requirements. The only expected environmental effects of the proposed action are associated with normal Shuttle launch operations. These impacts are limited largely to the near-field at the launch pad, except for temporary stratospheric ozone effects during launch and occasional sonic boom effects near the landing site. These effects have been judged insufficient to preclude Shuttle launches. In the event of: (1) an accident during launch, or (2) reentry of the spacecraft from earth orbit, there are potential adverse health and environmental effects associated with the possible release of plutonium dioxide from the spacecraft's radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG).
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Galileo Mission (Tier 2)
1988
431 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch
Environmental Impact Statements , Radiation Pollution & Control , Astronautics , Booster rocket engines , Environment effects , Environmental surveys , Galileo project , Radiation hazards , Radioisotope batteries , Spacecraft launching , Spacecraft power supplies , Thermoelectric generators , Titan launch vehicles , Ulysses mission , Atmospheric composition , Cancellation , Contamination , Dioxides , Landing sites , Ozone , Plutonium , Public health , Risk , Safety , Sonic booms , Space transportation system , Spacecraft orbits , Stratosphere , Water quality , Environmental impact statements