-------------------------------------
Are you concerned about the dangers of lead, dioxin, mercury, and the other thousands of toxic substances being unleashed into the environment? Well, you can stop worrying about those. Read on.
In 1997 NASA plans to launch the Cassini space probe. The fuel they have chosen for this deep space probe is plutonium 238.
Plutonium 238 is the veritable king kong of toxic substances. It is so lethal, scientists to this day remain unable to determine the minimum lethal dose.
In her book Nuclear Madness Dr. Helen Caldicott, founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, writes about plutonium: "It is so toxic that less than one-millionth of a gram, an invisible particle, is a carcinogenic dose. One pound, if uniformly distributed, could hypothetically induce lung cancer in every person on Earth."
In October 1997 the Cassini space probe, to be launched atop of a Titan rocket, will contain 72.3 pounds of plutonium 238.
To put the reliability of the Titan rocket and NASA in perspective, just in 1993 a billion dollar military spy satellite was blown to smithereens as the Titan carrying it blew up. NASA failures are so common, the latest spectacular explosion of an Atlas Launch Vehicle on January 17th, 1997 did not even make the front page of many newspapers!
As if the danger of a failure upon launch weren't enough, NASA then plans to send the Cassini probe to Venus where it will gather momentum. NASA will then 'slingshot' it back to within 312 miles of Earth for additional momentum on its way to Saturn. In other words, it will return to within 3% of the diameter of the earth. Considering that currently 90% of the satellites in orbit right now are non-functional, this should also be reason for great concern.
Now for the part that’s really infuriating.
This danger is totally unnecessary!
NASA itself admits that the solar battery pack developed by the European Space Agency would serve the needs of the probe! In fact, freedom of information act requests have revealed that past nuclear missions could have been accomplished with solar energy, and that this technology has existed for some time.
So why does NASA insist on using plutonium 238?
Call/fax/write/email your representative and demand that NASA be stopped from using plutonium 238 in its space missions. Demand that NASA use solar alternatives. Demand a congressional inquiry. Find out their position on this issue. Ask if they will sponsor a bill to outlaw plutonium 238 in space, as well as here on earth.
For a list of NJ Representatives go to:
http://village.ios.com/~friend/greennj/govtcons.html
For more inforamtion on the Cassini space probe go to:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/index.htm
Another link is on the NY Greens page:
http://www.panix.com/~levner/nygreens/news/gnaw.htm