The crash of the space shuttle Columbia has led again to questions about NASA's space programme. NASA is nominally a civilian body but its activities are now increasingly directed by the military. "Dual use" is the term that comes to mind.
Six of Columbia's crew were from the forces (one an Israeli air force member who had participated in the bombing of an empty Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981). The seventh, Kalpana Chawla, had close links with air force projects. At least 3 of Columbia's experiments were military.
Soon after the crash, reports arose saying that there were radioactive materials on board. One suggestion was that the Israeli, llan Ramon, was using an infrared camera (like those used for filming wildlife at night), powered by a new type of mini nuclear reactor, to detect Iraqi chemical weapons being produced under cover of darkness.
It is true that Israeli institutions are working on such reactors (as is the University of New Mexico, on behalf on the Pentagon), but it is not clear why cameras would require them. Nevertheless, NASA has warned people finding bits of Columbia to keep away, warning about hazards, including radioactivity.
There has long been concern about space accidents spreading radioactivity. In May and June, Mars probes with plutonium (Pu238)-powered heaters are to be launched. Pu-238 is 300 times more radioactive than Pu-239, used in nuclear bombs.
NASA has a $ibn project on nuclear reactors for space propulsion. Many spacebased elements of the Star Wars Il system are likely to be powered by radioactivity,
PHIL WARD updates us on the latest hazards served up to us by capitalism A YEAR'S TIME THERE'LL PLANT WHERE THOSE TREES ARE
The human space programme is a total waste of resources. It is basically ideological and has few applications that cannot be accomplished by robots.
The rhetoric of space travel - "conquest", "the final frontier", "colonisation", "Challenger", "Discovery", "Endeavour", "Columbia" - deliberately echoes the (nonexistent) halcyon days of imperialist adventure and hides a business that is - in many respects - very dirty and very nasty. Useful website: www.space4peace.org ILL TELL YOU HOW MUCH THIS COMPANY CARES ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT- IN
BE A STATE-OF-THE-ART WASTE TRENTMENT PORRBALE Using nuclear power in space (to say nothing of nuclear weapons) is another sprawl, gridlock and public transport overload.
Prescott's housing plan is yet another example of the wastefulness and ecological irrationality of capitalism. The market dictates that the North must be bulldozed and the South concreted over. So the government decides to give private developers money to build, often in the green belt and flood plains.
The pressure on transport in the south will be immense. The government is planning for 300,000 extra jobs in the London region: many of the workers will commute from the new Thames Gateway conurba*tion, adding to pollution and greenhouse gas capitalism's inability to break from the ca economy. On average, every car is parke for 95% of its life. Cars kill I million peopl a year in accidents mainly pedestrians an cyclists. Even more are killed by air pollu tion from motor vehicles. Community an social life, cities and whole countries ar designed around cars, denying access to a kinds of facilities for those who don't hav them.
The break from the car economy will b hard, but it is essential for any strategy tha is serious about reducing greenhouse ga emissions, improving the environment an promoting equality.