Re: Cassini Mission Opinion Column

[Kristin Erickson <10525kfb@msu.edu>]

Hello, Radsafers:

It is with great pleasure that I am posting the following opinion column from The State News, the Michigan State University campus newspaper, regarding the Cassini mission.  

The column is insightful, factual and forceful in pointing out how irrational fears can negatively impact peaceful progress for the benefit of mankind.  It also demonstrates that Otto Raabe's involvement and comments clearly had a significant and direct impact on members of the public and the media.

Dr. Raabe, I extend my great appreciation and commend you for your successful effort.  In this case, your words affected this journalism student, who in turn spoke very well to our 45,000 students, 10,000 faculty and staff and several thousand other members of the public and community at large who read our campus paper.  Kudos!!!

This is the kind of effort we all must make in communicating with the public and the media regarding the irrational, high outrage factor regarding radiation.  It reminds me of the analogy of how you eat the elephant; one bite at a time....  If we all take bites when we have an opportunity and create more opportunities, the task is less daunting and is accomplished much more quickly and effectively.

Regards to all, 

Kristin


Scientific Opportunities Overshadow Outcries
by Joy Chastain
Opinion Writer
The State News
Michigan State University
10/15/97 Edition

Not only was the controversial launching of the Cassini spacecraft delayed Monday, so was mankind's chance for further exploration.

Scientists who have been working on the project for 15 years had to wait until 4:43 a.m. today to send their project o its seven-year voyage to Saturn.

While protesters fled the scene of the launching, afraid of what would happen if something went wrong, engineers, scientists and their families waited at the scene to celebrate yet another step in exploration.

Unfortunately, weather problems and technical difficulties hindered immediate launching.

First, the launch was delayed because the Air Force launch team was running behind schedule in preparing the Titan IV-B rocket that carries the Cassini probe.  Next, battery-testing equipment had to be replaced. Then, Cassini's internal computer control showed some type of software problem.  The problem could have been fixed once the spacecraft was launched, but combined with the other glitches and the weather-related conditions, everything was delayed.

Opponents were pleased without the delay, claiming it gave them a  chance to continue efforts to cancel the flight based on its cargo:  72 pounds of plutonium , a radioactive substance that is dangerous when pulverized and inhaled.

They claim hundreds of thousands of people could die if there is an accident when the spacecraft flies past earth in 1999.  

Yet steps have been taken to prevent this.

The plutonium is encased in several layers of protective material.  NASA says is it unlikely people will be harmed due to exposure because the plutonium has been hardened into a ceramic form and would shatter like a dish upon impact, lowering the chance that it would be reduced into breathable material.

This is the 24th time NASA has launched nuclear material.  Its scientists are not novices dealing with dangerous substances, and the plutonium is needed to replace solar panels--which are impractical 1 billion miles from the sun--to generate electrical energy and heat.

NASA also claims that if the Titan IV-B rocket had a problem during launching, the amount of plutonium dioxide released would be one-tenth of the amount necessary to kill a human with cancer.  If the problem occurred while the spacecraft was in orbit, even less would be released.

Dr. Otto Raabe, president of the Health Physics Society, a group of 6,500 professionals in radiation safety, backed up NASA's claims by saying that even in a worst-case scenario, if Cassini did burn up on impact during flyby, the Northern Hemisphere would receive a dose less than the cosmic rays a passenger would receive during a commercial airline flight at 30,000 feet.  

It is understandable for people to be worried, but worries can go too far and stand in the way of learning.

Risk is always involved in advancement.

If our ancestors were not willing to take chances, where would we be now?  Many cures we have today are the result of dedicated researchers who were not afraid to experiment with deadly viruses.  

A group of 50 volunteers recently offered itself for research on the effects of a possible AIDS vaccine.  These people, 39 of whom are physicians, are willing to inject themselves with a weakened, yet live, strain of HIV.

These volunteers are informed, intellectual individuals who are willing to take a chance in order to expand society's understanding of something that currently remains a mystery.

Yet, they too came under fire for "taking chances."

What is wrong with people today?  If everyone was afraid of what "could " happen, nothing would ever be accomplished.  Would it be better to stay in our warm homes, never experiment with anything potentially harmful and limit our knowledge?

Thank God not everyone thinks this way.

The scientists and engineers involved with the Cassini project should be congratulated for having come this far and be applauded for their bravery.

When the Titan IV is finally launched, my best wishes go with it-- along with excitement and anticipation of what it may discover.




Chastain, the State News opinion writer, can be reached at chastai2@pilot.msu.edu

Kristin Erickson, Radiation Safety Officer
Office of Radiation, Chemical and Biological Safety
C124 Research Complex-Engineering
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan 48824

517 355-5008                            Fax 517 353-4871                10525kfb@msu.edu			http://www.orcbs.msu.edu

These are my own opinions and not necessarily those of my employer.