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Action Site Newsletter No. 3
March 20, 1998

The NoFlyby site is coordinating a press conference
at the United Nations on June 24, 1998.

  • Karl Grossman and Michio Kaku are two of the confirmed speakers for the press conference.
  • Other groups participating in this work are WILPF (Metro NY), Peace Through Reason (Prop 1), Grandmothers for Peace International, Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice, The Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space and the Nonviolent Web.
  • The NoFlyby Site will be posting information and helping coordinate events, including the distribution of press releases.
  • We need your help. Our idea is to make August 18th a day for International Awareness on the risks of Cassini and future dangerous uses of nuclear energy and weapons in space.
  • The Cassini Earth flyby is scheduled for August 18, 1999.

    • The Cassini space probe was launched on October 15, 1997. It is an exploratory probe designed to explore Saturn, its rings and its moons, in particular Saturn's largest moon, Titan. In order to get to Saturn NASA has planned a series of "planetary swingbys" or "flybys" to gain acceleration by exploiting the forces of planetary gravity. NASA expects to execute the second swingby around Venus on June 24, 1999, and then direct the probe back toward Earth. The plan is for the probe to perform a flyby of Earth on August 18, 1999 and then speed off to Jupiter and finally Saturn.
    For more information about the Cassini trajectory and planetary flybys, please see http://www.nonviolence.org/noflyby/traj.htm

    The purpose of our press conference on June 24, 1998 is to give warning of the possible environmental hazard that exists in the event of an inadvertent reentry of the plutonium-laden probe into our atmosphere during the Earth flyby.

    According to NASA's Environmental Impact Statement, the Cassini flyby has the potential to expose five billion people to 99% or more of the 72.3 pounds of plutonium radiation in the event of an accident.

    Such exposure would
    DOUBLE
    the man-made radiation activity
    in our environment!

    How can an accident happen?

    There are many possibilities: a few are miscalculation, equipment failure and collision with space debris. An article that appeared in Space News (Feb 16-22, 1998, p.3) by James E. Oberg reported that on January 15, 1998 a Multi-Service Launch System booster from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA. made impact with orbital debris that was apparently only 12 to 15 centimeters across in size. The refrigerator-sized Intercontinental ballistic missile was behaving as expected, when it suddenly disintegrated shortly before hitting the atmosphere slightly above 320 kilometers.
    The full text of the article and a link to comments by NoFlyby Advisory Board member Dr. Ross McCluney is posted at http://www.nonviolence.org/noflyby/ref/debris.htm

  • There have already been nine space accidents polluting our environment with radioactive substances.
  • It is known that NASA is planning more plutonium launches
    see the "High-efficiency radioisotope power source" link on the Nasa site for the Pluto Express at http://eis.jpl.nasa.gov/roadmap/site/missions/A/pluto_express.html.

  • Furthermore, according to Karl Grossman's research, military programs are calling for systematic use of nuclear reactors and weapons in space. Each of these missions is a "mobile Chernobyl."

    If you have not already done so, please consider taking the time to watch "Nukes in Space," the award winning 52:30 minute video documentary produced by EnviroVideo. We urge you to purchase a copy and donate it to your local library after you watch it.
    More information on Nukes in Space I and II see http://www.nonviolence.org/noflyby/karl/index.htm#nukes.

    We risk harming our planet substantially for generations into the future. This is the time to act. Please contact your elected representatives and consult:
    http://www.nonviolence.org/noflyby/actions/
    for other ideas on how you can respond to this concern. Let us know how you think the Action Site to Stop the Cassini Earth Flyby can become more effective.

    Cassini is our chance to make a difference! Please notify us if you are interested in receiving the NoFlyby media kit to help distribute information for June 24, 1998 actions.

    Please advise if you plan to come to the event at the United Nations and send us your ideas in helping us make August 18, 1998 "International Awareness Day," one year before the scheduled Cassini Earth flyby

    LET'S USE CASSINI TO END THE RISK
    OF PLUTONIUM POLLUTION ON EARTH.


    We remind you of a few important upcoming events:

    The events listed in this newsletter are posted in What's New at http://www.nonviolence.org/noflyby/alerts/ .
    Please check the listing there for further details.

    Other:

    If you know of other people who you think would be interested in receiving NoFlyby communications, or if you do not wish to receive communications from the Action Site to Stop Cassini Earth Flyby, please send a message to info@flybynews.com indicating the relevant e-mail address/s.

    Coordinators
    Action Site to Stop Cassini Earth Flyby

    Subscribe or unsubscribe to this Newsletter from: http://www.nonviolence.org/noflyby/alerts/subscr.htm

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