Re: Russian space probe hysteria!

[StevenFrey@aol.com]

Hi Gang -

At the risk of beating this dead horse all the way into 
Big Macs, how about this tidbit: Prime Minister Howard
of Australia, upon learning of the possibility that plutonium
might fall on his country, mobilized the military and the 
national civil defense and warned the Australian people in effect
to prepare for the worst ! This action was reported in yesterday's 
Los Angeles Times, a prominent newspaper in Southern California. 
Worse, the alert was moot. It came a day after Mars96 had already 
splashed down elsewhere in the world, missing Australia entirely.

One wonders how stress was generated and how much time and 
money was lost in Australia as a result. Moreover, similar 
overreaction can easily happen anywhere. We have to find 
better ways as a profession to prevent same. One way may be to point out
that the plutonium in the space probe is the same kind which has powered 
cardiac pacemakers inside the human body, benefitting human health for
many years.

Steve Frey, CHP
Stevenfrey@aol.com
Phone: (800) 888-7008 (office)
          : (714) 646-4631 (home)