AUT: Cassini Launch Anniversary Response

[noflyby@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

	October 15, 1998 marks one year from the launching of the Cassini space
probe. NASA launched Cassini using a Titan IV rocket, which twice in
twenty-five launches failed. NASA, however, claimed that even if there had
been a launch accident, their designed containers would protect the
radioactive plutonium on board, unless it fell on a hard protruding
surface..  Nonetheless, Cassini has taken off and is flying on schedule
toward a final flyby of Venus on June 24, 1999, after which it will
accelerate to about 42,000 mph and come toward Earth for a swingby scheduled
for August 18, 1999.

        Traveling 10 miles per second, it could take less than few minutes
for the Cassini payload to be released into the atmosphere in fine
breathable particles. The radiation on board, 400,000 Curies, could more
than double the human-made radiation pollution put into our environment
since the first nuclear test bombing in the 40's. These substances remain
radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years.

        Why are we still endangering our lives with such reckless nuclear
space programs, when scientific literature shows that even one alpha
particle of Plutonium can cause cancer? Please consider Dr. Earl Budin's
report, "Why the Cassini Flyby Must be Omitted," posted at
http://www.nonviolence.org/noflyby/ref/budin1.htm . The report shows medical
literature on the carcinogenic nature of plutonium and the Interagency
Nuclear Safety Review Panel on Cassini. A group of five high level federal
government officials submitted this report to the Clinton Administration in
July 1997, including a representative to NASA. The Safety Evaluation Report
(SER) for Cassini was unknown to the public and legislatures until it was
discovered by Dr. Earl Budin. He works with Physicians for Social
Responsibility in Santa Barbara, California. In contrast to NASA's
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which claimed that the Plutonium
containers could withstand the heat of an atmospheric entry at such a high
speed, the SER notes it would not survive and that nine kilograms of
Plutonium might be released in tiny particles. Their estimate of possible
fatalities is ten times higher than that reported in the EIS, according to
the SER fatalities could be in the tens of thousands.

        It seems like the profit motive is the driving force of the current
nuclear space program, not a concern for the safety of the public and
environment. Congress should study the information of the Cassini Safety
Evaluation Report and investigate the flyby before we risk such drastic
consequences for an exploratory space mission. As fifteen members of
Congress wrote to President Clinton before the Cassini launch, "...While we
have much to learn through the exploration of space, in this instance the
grave potential danger posed by the plutonium on the probe would seem to
outweigh the potential benefit from this mission. It is too important to
squander the public's trust on such a risky mission. A NASA that all
Americans can support instills hope for the future, not fear of tragedy..."
This is even more true considering the report that the plutonium containers
would not survive an accidental entry into our atmosphere. We need to now
evaluate the risk vs. the possible benefits of this 2004 Saturn exploratory
mission.

        Please join us in helping our elected representatives learn about
this serious issue. Much more information, an extensive bibliography and
related links are posted at the NoFlyby website on the Internet at
http://www.nonviolence.org/noflyby .

        It's time to take another look at Cassini before can no longer avert
the Earth flyby.

        Sincerely,

        Jonathan M. Haber

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        Please consider copying/revising the above for a letter to send to
your editor of a local newspaper. Also, please consider using the following
as a cover letter to send to your elected representatives or to those on
Congressional space committees. Please send them the referenced article by
Earl Budin, "Why the Cassini Flyby Must be Omitted." This information can be
found at http://www.nonviolence.org/noflyby/action/lobbycon.htm

        Thanks for any effort to help expose the risks of the Cassini space
probe's flyby of Earth.

        Peace in Space,
        Jonathan M. Haber
        Joe McIntire
        NoFlyby Coordinators
        http://www.nonviolence.org/noflyby
        P.O. Box 1999
        Wendell Depot, MA 01380 USA



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