SPACE NUKES

 What Are You Saying?

 Obviously the concept of space, that is "the next frontier", has escaped this poor protester regarding the launch of a space probe that contains a small, minute amount of plutonium. Let us look at this matter a little closer.

 The universe, commonly referred to as space, is filled with many galaxies. These galaxies are composed of many stars. As the late Carl Sagan said, there are "billions and billions" of stars. You know, our Sun is a star. Did you know that? That's not all. Ever heard of a Quasar or a Pulsar? How about a Black Hole? That's a damn lot of radiation.

And what are these stars? Humongous THERMONUCLEAR reactions which produces the heat and the light that supports our life on this little blue planet. Imagine that. Oh, and for those who do not know, these are FUSION reactions, and not cold ones either. Talk about nukes in space! The whole universe is one big nuclear melting pot. That little plutonium needs to split its atoms and that is a FISSION reaction, a much less powerful release of energy. Shoot, I doubt that little chunk of rock would disrupt the whole balance of power out there, but then again that butterfly in the South Pacific is causing adverse weather conditions in the Great Plains....

 So these people have a problem with this small amount of plutonium being launched into space. Do you think this little amount of radiation will add to the background radiation in our universe? Let's see here. A small amount of plutonium which humans can contain or the Sun? Hmmmmm? Which gives off more radiation? I don't think we need a science class to figure this one out.

 Now don't get me wrong. There is a risk that we humans can be harmed by this plutonium if the rocket launching the probe crashes. Sure we could blow up part of an island with such a chunk. Yet, it takes a little more than a rocket crash to ignite such an explosion. The residual radiation can cause some trouble to us, but I don't think we will see much trouble in space. Humans cannot live in space without protection from the radiation out there. The lack of air also causes some problems, too, but do we care about that?

 On that note, let's be more realistic and open-minded about reaching out and exploring our own home, our universe. To use the tools we have and know they are available to us. Also a little education might help.
 Oh, about the sun being satellite killer, could it be "nukes"?