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| Far out in the Pacific Ocean, normally one of the cleanest air places on the planet, has undergone a dramatic and dire chemical transformation - chemical air pollution from toxic manufacturing plants and coal fired energy incinerators from China have contaminated the skies, wafted in from thousands of miles away by trade winds this time of the year. Adding to the smoke are the burning fires in the rainforest of Indonesia. The deadly air pollution has shut down outdoor operations at SPACE1 Industries, cancelled rocket launches, and shut down Singularity Observatory, forcing the telescopes to be hermetically sealed and wrapped, protected from the ravages of caustic air pollution. In this photo, deadly air pollution has obliterated the view of all mountains, permeating and blinding pathways and stopping all outdoor work. |
Space1 Stops Rocket Launch
Due to Chemical Air Pollution from China
Just as a massive clear sky hole opened up clearing the path for several rocket space missions and observational programs at Singularity Observatory, the worst chemical air pollution filled it, creating warnings to stay inside.
Caustic chemicals from manufacturing and coal industry burners wafted out into the Pacific Ocean from thousands of miles away, coming from the sources in Mainland China and carried by seasonal trade wind.
According to sources, China gets a significant part of its energy requirements by burning raw black coal, which is the source of deadly chemical pollution. Additionally, China is the number one location of manufacturing with the release of toxic poisonous chemicals into the air. The government is trying to clean up some pollution by restricting cars on the road by certain hours and days, and reducing a few coal fired energy plants. At this time, this is not enough to make any significant difference in air pollution experiences observed in China and at distant locations.
Pollution due to chemical manufacturing and coal burning can cause death. Using a dust filter face mask with charcoal impregnation does not filter out the pollution. A war time chemical gas mask is required with certification to filter out the determined pollutants. Space1 has a policy of not exposing its workers to chemical air pollution and standard policy is to shut down all outdoor operations during pollution days. Chemical pollution is also deadly to precision telescopes as reported by Singularity Observatory. The chemicals destroy delicate first surface optical coatings, straw coatings, optical aluminization, and corrector plate constructive interference coatings. The chemical also harmful by etching precision glass optical surfaces and tarnishing oculars while destroying anti-reflective coatings on oculars and leading to the destruction of CCD substrates and photonic charged coupled device sites.
