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Cassinni Mission




Here's my contribution . . . I just sent this to the president:


---------------------- Forwarded by Jack Topper/HQ/ICN on 09/09/97 09:47 AM
---------------------------


Jack Topper
09/09/97 09:51 AM

To:   president@whitehouse.gov
cc:
Subject:  Cassinni Mission

Mr. President,

Please don't allow short-sighted fear mongers or self-serving political
expediencies to stand in the way of good science and scientific progress.

Every logical person on earth knows that it is impossible to experience
life without risk.  NASA has a long track record of safe design and
operations with very few exceptions  --  again, there is always at least
some risk attendant in every human action, regardless of the nature of that
action  -- and I know that NASA learns from each success and from each
failure and that they work diligently to apply that knowledge to each
successive mission.

I firmly believe that NASA is making every conceivable effort to ensure the
safety and success of the Cassinni mission.  I   have no reservations
whatsoever about the safety aspects of the mission and am perfectly willing
to accept the infinitesimal added risk to my health that MAY be incurred by
this launch, assuming it ends in total catastrophe.  If it is successful,
as will almost certainly be the case, I will have sustained a tiny risk,
but no measurable consequences at all.  I consider that a very small price
to pay for the advancements in science and technology that are sure to
result from this mission.

I believe that most of the persons opposed to this mission are part of a
"lunatic fringe" minority, a minority which I know exists on both sides of
the nuclear safety issue.  I also believe that the lunatic fringe minority,
on either side of any issue, should never be presumed to be speaking for
the majority of the people.  They must be heard, and their arguments
evaluated fairly, but they must NOT be allowed to control scientific or
world events on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations, non-factual data,
bad science and faulty logic.

Launch Cassinni.



Sincerely,

Jack D. Topper
Senior Technical Specialist
ICN Dosimetry Services
3300 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA  92626
jdtopper@icnpharm.com
(714) 545-0100 ext. 2257