cassini lawsuit

["Michael C. Baker" <mcbaker@lanl.gov>]

This was just released.
Mike Baker

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Lawsuit challenges safety of nuclear-powered Cassini spacecraft
Wed, 8 Oct 1997 11:51:40 PDT
                                         
   WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (AFP) - A Florida-based public interest group  
said on Wednesday it has filed a lawsuit challenging the launch of 
the Cassini Saturn spacecraft, saying the nuclear-powered rocket 
poses a health risk. 
   In the suit, the Coalition for Peace and Justice said the  
plutonium-fueled spacecraft poses a "risk to human health and the 
environment." 
   The group's organizers say an accident during the launch,  
scheduled for next week, could result in the release of radioactive 
material. 
   The coalition filed its suit in federal court in Hawaii, where  
its attorney is based. 
   The spacecraft carries about 32 kilos (72 pounds) of plutonium  
as an energy source, the most nuclear fuel ever launched into space. 
   A protest movement opposing the launch has gathered more than  
30,000 signatures. 
   The Cassini, and its European-built Huygens mini-probe are  
scheduled to be launched aboard an Air Force Titan-IV rocket from 
the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on October 13. 
   The mission calls for the unmanned spacecraft to travel more  
than seven years to get to Saturn, where it will eject a module onto 
the planet's largest moon, Titan. 
   The launch of the spacecraft has already been delayed once  
because of a cooling system problem.

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Michael C. Baker, Ph.D.
Safeguards Science and Technology
Mail Stop E540
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos, NM 87545
Phone: (505) 667-7334
Fax:   (505) 665-4433
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