Date: September 24th, 1999 (9:15 am PST)
Re: Cassini news brief -- don't call me clairvoyant!
One of the last items I posted on the Y2K-nuclear list suggested that what would be needed to wake up America was "a sign from God". We got something that if it isn't one, is just as good.
"As luck would have it" a few hours after I posted that item, NASA lost a space probe in a maneuver extremely similar to the Earth flyby that Cassini did last summer. The "experts" are falling all over themselves trying to explain it without saying something stupid like "maybe 'Mr. Stop Cassini' was right!".
Please review my last newsletter on the subject which is available here and which responds to comments by several well-known space industry names:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/nltrs/nltr0193.htm
The issue prior to that discusses the terrific timing my comments had:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/nltrs/nltr0192.htm
The original comment I made was in my answer to Carol Moore on this list, which is why I figured everyone here would get a kick out of what happened.
NASA, my nemesis, hasn't been this embarrassed and "red-faced" as reporters are calling it, in a long, long time.
I am savoring the moment and attempting to use it as God no doubt would have intended if he had cooked this one up himself -- to draw attention to the Y2K-nuclear battle going on on this forum.
God bless all of you working to protect the world from the techno-apologists who know no shame, no sense of proportion, and no compassion.
And Good Work, God -- but it looks like we'll need yet another sign!
Sincerely,
Russell Hoffman
Founder and Editor
STOP CASSINI newsletter
----- END OF OUTGOING EMAIL TO Y2K-NUCLEAR NEWS GROUP -----
(3) Outgoing mail: Letter to Dwayne Allen Day:
[NOTE: The comments these refer to apparently were actually said by Chris Jones, and Jim Spellman transcribed the authorship incorrectly when he sent me the collection of quotes. The STOP CASSINI newsletter editor regrets the error. See Newsletter #199 for more details. -- rdh 10/02/1999]
Comments by Dwayne Allen Day were included in the previous newsletter. Here is what I sent to him this morning:
----- LETTER TO DWAYNE ALLEN DAY FROM RUSSELL D. HOFFMAN -----
Sir,
Please see:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/nltrs/nltr0193.htm
for an answer to your comments from yesterday.
Also, please define "better" as in "FBC" as you used the term yesterday. And after that, below are 44 Cassini-related questions you can try your hand at.
Thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
Russell Hoffman
Founder and Editor
STOP CASSINI newsletter
FORTY-FOUR CASSINI QUESTIONS:
(1) How many RTGs (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators) are there on Cassini?
(2) How many GPHSs (General Purpose Heat Sources) are there in each RTG?
(3) How many GISs (Graphite Impact Shells) are there in each GPHS?
(4) How much plutonium is there in each one?
(5) How many LWRHUs (Light Weight Radioactive Heater Units, also known simply as RHUs) are there on board Cassini (roughly, since I'm not sure NASA ever gave a final exact figure)?
(6) How much plutonium is there in each one?
(7) What was the likelihood, according to NASA, that the LWRHUs would incinerate in a Cassini reentry accident?
(8) What is the maximum percentage of plutonium which NASA EXPECTED to be vaporized in a reentry accident, according to page 4-51 of the June 1995 Environmental Impact Statement for the Cassini mission?
(9) What's the which minimum EXPECTED to be vaporized, according to that same page?
(10) What particle size range and mean can be expected from a vaporization, if it is approximately the same as for the reentry which occurred in April 1964 which provided actual data regarding the vaporization characteristics of plutonium?
(11) What particle size is ideal for lodging permanently in a person's lung if it is inhaled?
(12) How much radiation do the cells around a particle of plutonium receive, according to the late Dr. Karl Z. Morgan and related to me in a conversation in 1997, which I described in a statement published in a NASA Cassini document?
(13) How many Curies of plutonium did SNAP-9A carry?
(14) What chance of reentry did NASA give for SNAP-9A?
(15) Did the SNAP-9A reenter Earth's atmosphere?
(16) How many Curies are there in 2.1 lbs plutonium, assuming the mix is the same as for NASA's radioactive thermoelectric generators?
(17) How much plutonium was on board Russia's Mars '96?
(18) Where is it now?
(19) How much plutonium was on board Apollo 13?
(20) Where is it now?
(21) Can you prove it's there? Have you seen it? Has anyone seen it?
(22) What were NASA's official odd's against a Space Shuttle failure prior to the Challenger accident?
(23) What were NASA's official odds on the same thing shortly after the Challenger accident?
(24) What is the half-life of Pu 236?
(25) What is the half-life of Pu 238?
(26) What is the half-life of Pu 239?
(27) What is the half-life of Pu 240?
(28) What is the half-life of Pu 241?
(29) What is the half-life of Pu 242?
(30) For the next seven questions, the launch weight percentage may be given:
(31) What percentage of Cassini's plutonium is Pu 236?
(32) What percentage of Cassini's plutonium is Pu 238?
(33) What percentage of Cassini's plutonium is Pu 239?
(34) What percentage of Cassini's plutonium is Pu 240?
(35) What percentage of Cassini's plutonium is Pu 241?
(36) What percentage of Cassini's plutonium is Pu 242?
(37) What percentage of the RTG fuel is oxygen?
(38) What kind of radiation does plutonium 238 give off?
(39) What is an alpha particle?
(40) If inhaled or ingested, is an alpha-emitter dangerous?
(41) If so, why?
(42) What health effects does plutonium cause?
(43) How much plutonium 239 is considered by most people in medical science to be a fatal dose, because it will almost surely cause lung cancer if lodged permanently in a lung?
(44) How much Pu 238 would it take to have the same radiological effect?
------ end of quiz -----
----- END OF LETTER TO DWAYNE ALLEN DAY FROM RUSSELL D. HOFFMAN -----
(4) Outgoing mail: Letter to Peter G. Neumann:
----- CLIP FROM FORUM ON RISKS TO THE PUBLIC IN COMPUTERS AND RELATED SYSTEMS (comp.risks) ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy, Peter G. Neumann, moderator (PROVIDED BY LARRY KLAES): -----
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 99 13:27:12 PDT
From: "Peter G. Neumann" neumann@csl.sri.com
Subject: Mars Climate Observer failure
The $125M Mars Climate Observer probe had seemingly been approaching mars on
target, but somehow managed to get within about 60 km of Mars -- rather Than
the planned 160 km -- an altitude that was 25 km too close for the probe to
survive. This too-close approach is believed to have resulted from
erroneous commands sent to the probe, although there are now suspicions that
the probe had been off course since the last previous correction on 15 Sep.
[Source:
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/23/mars.orbiter.04/
, CNN news,
23 Sep 1999]
[Mars has been a tough target. The Soviets lost both Phobos I (faulty remote software upgrade, 1988) and Phobos II (bad antenna realignment), and another mission that was destroyed on launch (1996), after the earlier loss of an attempted Mars orbiter in 1971. The U.S. lost a 1993 Observer, and more recently the Mars Rover Pathfinder (RISKS-19.49 to 56). There have of course been some successes, with the Viking landers (1970s) and Pathfinder (1997).]
----- END OF CLIP FROM FORUM ON RISKS TO THE PUBLIC IN COMPUTERS AND RELATED SYSTEMS (comp.risks) ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy, Peter G. Neumann, moderator (PROVIDED BY LARRY KLAES) -----
----- LETTER TO PETER G. NEUMANN FROM RUSSELL D. HOFFMAN: -----
To: "Peter G. Neumann" neumann@csl.sri.com
From: "Russell D. Hoffman"
rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com
Dear Sir;
I have been studying NASA's failures (and their lies) for several years now. Regarding the recent Mars insertion failure, please review my last newsletter on the subject which is available here and which responds to comments by several well-known space industry names:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/nltrs/nltr0193.htm
I previously interviewed you in 1995. The transcript of that interview is here if you want to remind yourself of our prior contact, which I thought was very fruitful and pleasant:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/hightech/petergne.htm
Sincerely,
Russell Hoffman
Founder and Editor
STOP CASSINI newsletter
----- END OF LETTER TO PETER G. NEUMANN -----
(5) Email correspondence with Dr. Lawrence Lasher at NASA:
PIONEER 10 had 80,000 Curies of plutonium on board at launch time in March, 1972. It has decayed slightly since then, and as discussed, Pioneer 10 probably really is out of our hair now. But still, the scientists involved should understand the potential medical consequences of what they are playing with. If you want to play with fire, you need to understand that it's hot, and what that "heat" means to human health.
As this correspondence between a NASA scientist currently working on the Pioneer 10 mission and the STOP CASSINI editor proves, clearly they do not know much about what they are playing with. They are, indeed, criminally negligent in their education.
----- INCOMING EMAIL FROM LARRY KLAES (clip): -----
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 22:16:15 -0400
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 22:16:09 -0400
STATUS UPDATED: 10 September 1999
Pioneer 10
(Launched 2 March 1972)
Distance from Sun (1 September 1999): 73.38
Question:
Why does the RTG power decrease?
Answer:
Power for the Pioneer 10 is generated by the Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTG's). Heat from the decay of the plutonium 238 isotope is converted by thermoelectric couples into electrical current. The electrical output depends on the hot junction temperature, the thermal path to the radiator fins, and the cold junction temperature. It is the degradation of the thermoelectric junction that has the major effect in decreasing the power output of the RTG. In the 26-year time scale operation of Pioneer 10, the 92 year half-life of the isotope does not appreciably affect the RTG operation. The nuclear decay heat will keep the hot junction temperature hot for many years but unfortunately will not be able to be converted into enough electricity to power the transmitter for much longer.
[ Pioneer Home Page | Ames Research Center | NASA Home Page ]
Project Manager: Dr. Lawrence Lasher
To: Dr. Lawrence Lasher, Project Manager, Pioneer 10
Dear Sir,
In the clip shown below it is interesting to note that the Pu 238 for
Pioneer is listed as having a 92-year half life, while Cassini's is said
(in NASA's 1995 EIS for the Cassini mission, page 2-18, for example) to
have a 87.75 year half-life.
Is the composition of the Pu 238 on board Pioneer different from that on
Cassini? What other isotopes are inside of Pioneer's RTG's? Is there a
possibility that the protective containment system on Pioneer would become
brittle and ineffective over decades, centuries, or millennia?
Since, according to the statement from which the clip below is taken, there
is a significant question of whether Pioneer has left the influence of the
Sun, is there any possibility it will fall back into the inner planetary
area of our solar system some time? If so, when is the earliest that might
happen? What are the half-lives of the all of the various radioisotopes
are on board Pioneer 10 (you only mentioned the Pu 238)? Can the probe be
tracked after its systems have all gone dead from the decay of the
thermocouple you speak of below?
Lastly, can you tell me what member or members of the Pioneer team is/are
familiar with the medical effects of plutonium on the human body? Are
you? If so, what size of plutonium 238 particle is considered a lethal
dose to a human being? Statistically, what is the effect of a 1/1,000th of
that dose, and what is the (statistical) effect of 1/1,000,000th of that
dose? (I say "statistical" because, as I'm sure you know, the physical
manifestation remains the same in all cases but merely occurs at a lower
rate within the population, namely, cancer, leukemia, and birth defects).
If you cannot answer these questions please pass them on to a member of
your team who can.
Thank you in advance,
Russell Hoffman
Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 08:28:40 -0700
Russell -- The difference between the half lives given is just based on different experimental data and not significant.
The RTG's are on booms separated from the main spacecraft and will not damage Pioneer 10. Pioneer 10 will be in galactic orbit for billions of years. It is moving in a straight line away from the Sun at a constant velocity of about 12 km/sec.
Until Pioneer 10 reaches a distance of about 1.5 parsec (309,000 AUs) - about 126,000 years from now - it will be dominated by the gravitational field of the Sun. After that Pioneer 10 will be on an orbital path in the Milky Way galaxy influenced by the field of the stars that it passes. The initial star in the Milky Way that determines its path the first 126,000 years is the Sun. (The above galactic values are thanks to a computer analysis performed by D. W. Keenan from the University of Alabama that appeared in Astronomy, November, 1979.)
When there is inadequate power to transmit - perhaps in several years - there is no way to detect Pioneer 10.
I am not familiar with anyone that can answer your medical questions
The editor of the STOP CASSINI newsletter wonders how much longer NASA can continue to have the public believe they are acting dumb, when in fact they really ARE!
Dr. Lasher admits he has NO understanding of the radiological burden Pioneer 10 might have been had it reentered Earth's atmosphere during launch or any time thereafter. And he admits that no one on the Pioneer 10 staff that he knows of would have any idea either! Yet that probe contained enough plutonium 238 to wipe out not just a city, but whole countries! If evenly divided and given to each of us, it could have wiped out the world many times over. And these are not mere statistical games, either! These poisons really are awful -- Dr. Ernest Sternglass estimated Cassini could kill tens of millions of people. Dr. John W. Gofman estimated a million or more. The deadly games being played by NASA risk foisting these poisons upon us because the Nuclear Mafia pays the tab and calls the dance, and the folks at NASA just don't know or care what they are risking of other people's lives.
It's Sickening. The folks at NASA all need an education in what it means to care about other people. In statistical probabilities. In common sense. In compassion. In the health effects of what they are doing.
Russell Hoffman
Note: Many of the issues presented by Russell Hoffman in this newsletter are based on conversations with Dr. John W. Gofman (who isolated the first working quantities of plutonium), the late Dr. Karl Z. Morgan (who was known as the "father of health physics"), Dr. Ernest Sternglass (who has done statistical studies about LLR), Dr. Jay Gould (ditto), Dr. Horst Poehler, Dr. Helen Caldicott, Dr. Ross Wilcock and dozens of activists, as well as many others on both sides of the nuclear debates, including ex military nuke expert Jack Shannon (responsible for the design of the D2G Navy reactor, the most widely used reactor in the U. S. navy), award-winning investigative reporter Karl Grossman, ecologist and human rights advocate Pamela Blockey-O'Brien, etc. Also, I've read a few dozen books on the various subjects. And scads of government documents purporting to explain how something so dangerous can be safe.
Professionally, my pump training software is used throughout the pump industry and even in some nuclear power plants around the world to train their staff about mechanical pumps. Any errors herein are regrettably my own, but I believe it would take an extremely unlikely preponderance of errors to invalidate my basic position on these issues.
Russell D. Hoffman, Carlsbad, California, Peace Activist, Environmentalist, High Tech Guru:
Hoffman's Y2K Preparedness Information:
Learn about The Effects of Nuclear War here:
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 10:30:29 -0400
Ten years ago, I wrote an article on the history of robotic
Mars exploration which was published in the October, 1989
issue of the EJASA and the August, 1990 issue of Spaceflight.
You can read the EJASA article here:
http://www.seds.org/pub/info/newsletters/ejasa/1989/jasa8910.txt
I wrote the article in response to the then recent failures
of the Soviet Phobos 1 and 2 probes. One thing you will see
is that failed Mars missions are not uncommon. Ironically,
the Soviets have had better luck landing on the surface of
Venus than they ever did on Mars.
I take it as part of the price to pay to explore space and
the fact that sending probes to other worlds is still far
from routine.
Larry
It is an excellent article and highly recommended reading, although it makes NO MENTION of the nuclear payloads that were on board at least one of the missions (Mars '96, which is mentioned) and probably others. Here is a clip from it, on what effect one wrong byte can have:
PHOBOS 1 left the launch pad at Tyuratam on July 7, 1988, aboard the PROTON rocket booster. PHOBOS 2 was sent to Mars on July 12. While the probes were in transit towards the Red Planet, studies of the Sun and the solar environment were being carried out. On August 31, PHOBOS 1 was being prepared for an international solar experiment. During one of the regular communication sessions with the probe, a message with one character accidentally omitted was sent to the craft. This seemingly minor incident quickly snowballed as PHOBOS 1 was subsequently given a computer command to shut off its attitude control system. The resulting error caused the probe to begin tumbling, aiming its solar panels away from the Sun. Power in the spacecraft dropped dramatically until it could no longer function, and communications ceased. Despite several days of intense efforts by the Soviets to re-establish contact, PHOBOS 1 was permanently silent.
NASA needs to be told in no uncertain terms NEVER to launch nuclear rockets of any type ever again!
To learn about the absurd excuses NASA used to launch Cassini and its 72.3 pounds of plutonium in 1997, ask them for the 1995 Environmental Impact Statement for the Cassini mission, and all subsequent documentation. At the same time, be sure to ask them for ANY and ALL documentation available on future uses of plutonium in space, including MILITARY, CIVILIAN, or "OTHER" (just in case they make a new category somehow!). To get this information, contact:
Cassini Public Information
Daniel Goldin is the head of NASA. Here's his email address:
Here's the NASA URL to find additional addresses to submit written questions to:
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/facts/HTML/FS-002-HQ.html
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT NASA IS DOING TO YOUR HEALTH.
Be sure to "cc" the president and VP and your senators and congresspeople, too.
President Bill Clinton
Vice President Albert Gore
Secretary William Cohen
Secretary Bill Richardson
Always include your full name and postal address in all correspondence to any Government official of any country.
Thanks for reading! Welcome new subscribers!
Home page of our STOP CASSINI movement:
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Published by Russell D. Hoffman electronically.
To: "Russell D. Hoffman"
From: Larry Klaes
Subject: Pioneer 10 Status Report - September 10, 1999
To: seti2, seti3, cs, meta, astro, acc
From: Larry Klaes
Subject: Pioneer 10 Status Report - September 10, 1999
Cc: dl, ps, sk, at, dg, Bob_Cutter, Scot_Stride, solnet, fhd@lcc.net
AU Speed relative to the Sun: 12.24 km/sec (27,380 mph)
Distance from Earth: 10.99 billion kilometers (6.827 billion miles)
Round-trip Light Time: 20 hours 21 minutes
(e-mail:llasher@mail.arc.nasa.gov)
Webmaster: Beverly Akins
----- END OF INCOMING EMAIL FROM LARRY KLAES (clip) -----
----- LETTER TO DR. LAWRENCE LASHER FROM RUSSELL HOFFMAN: -----
From: Russell D. Hoffman, U. S. citizen
Re: Pu 238 on board Pioneer 10
Date September 10th, 1999
Carlsbad, CA
----- END OF LETTER TO LAWRENCE LASHER FROM RUSSELL HOFFMAN -----
----- RESPONSE FROM LAWRENCE LASHER (UNCUT) -----
To: "Russell D. Hoffman" rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com
From: Lawrence Lasher llasher@mail.arc.nasa.gov
Subject: Re: Half-lives of plutonium
X-UIDL: 9c995dcad0917ca203c989927f267523
----- END OF RESPONSE FROM LAWRENCE LASHER (UNCUT) -----
Founder and Editor
STOP CASSINI newsletter
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/whoisrdh.htm
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/y2k/index.htm
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/tenw/nuke_war.htm
(6) Larry Klaes on Russian Mars missions (1989 article):
----- INCOMING EMAIL FROM LARRY KLAES: -----
To: "Russell D. Hoffman"
From: Larry Klaes
Subject: The rocky road to other worlds
----- END OF INCOMING EMAIL FROM LARRY KLAES: -----
----- CLIP FROM LARRY KLAES' 1989 ARTICLE ON RUSSIAN MARS EXPLORATION -----
----- END OF CLIP FROM LARRY KLAES' 1989 ARTICLE ON RUSSIAN MARS EXPLORATION -----
United States Government official contact points:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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(818) 354-5011 or
(818) 354-6478
Here's NASA's "comments" email address:
comments@www.hq.nasa.gov
daniel.goldin@hq.nasa.gov
or
dgoldin@mail.hq.nasa.gov
White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20500; Ph. (202) 456-1111, Fax (202) 456-2461;
e-mail -- president@whitehouse.gov
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202-586-6210
fax: 202-586-4403
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First placed online September 24th, 1999.
Last modified October 2nd, 1999 (minor typos corrected September 24th, 1999. Notes added as noted.).
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Copyright (c) Russell D. Hoffman