GLOBAL NETWORK SPACE NEWSLETTER November 9, 1999
1) CHINA CALLS FOR SPACE WEAPONS BAN: China's Ambassador for Disarmament
Affairs has called on the U.N. to work toward negotiating a treaty on the
prevention of the "weaponization" of space. Ambassador Li Changhe recently
stated that "Outer space will be turned into a weapon base and battle field,
and regional and global strategic stability will be undermined."
2) METEOR STORM CAUSING CONCERN: The international space industry and
government agencies will be holding their breath on November 17 when the
annual Leonids Meteor Shower hits earth's atmosphere and likely sandblasts
hundreds of earth-orbiting satellites with comet particles. The more than
500 operational satellites now in orbit will be monitored and repositioned
in order to minimize damage to them. The unknown number of U.S. and Russian
nuclear powered satellites in earth orbit would be in danger of being hit as
well.
3) LETTERS TO GLENN: Hundreds of letters from all over the U.S. and Europe
were sent to Sen. John Glenn prior to his late October launch into space.
The letters urged him to speak out against turning the heavens into a
battlefield. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) also sent a message to Sen Glenn
urging him to make such a statement. In the past Sen. Harkin has introduced
the "Outer Space Protection Act" which would have banned weapons in space.
Unfortunately Harkin's bill could never even get hearings.
4) DOE & PLUTONIUM: The Department of Energy is now undergoing planning to
expand their production process for nuclear power in space. As
inter-planetary missions like Cassini are expanded and serious efforts are
made toward missions to the moon and Mars, nuclear power becomes more of an
issue. Mining colonies are now being seriously planned and discussed by
NASA for the moon and Mars. They are proposing to power these colonies with
nuclear sources. One must wonder how communities and workers at/near DOE
plutonium production sites will be impacted? DOE didn't have a very good
record when they were building bombs. Contact us for more info. The
deadline for comment at DoE on this issue is January 4, 1999.
5) SPACE STATION OVERRUNS: NASA is now asking for an additional $660
million to help the Russians with their share of the International Space
Station (ISS). Already the U.S. has given Russia $470 million for the
maintenance of the Mir space station. The ISS is now expected to cost more
than $40 billion to complete.
6) LAUNCH SITES UNDERWAY ALL OVER U.S.: Currently most rockets are launched
from Cape Canaveral in Florida or Vandenberg AFB in California. Plans are
now underway to build launch sites at the following places in the U.S.:
Wallops Island, Virginia; Kodiak Island, Alaska; Spaceport Montana on the
Crow Indian reservation; and Nevada Test Site. Other states are also vying
for selection as a launch site for Lockheed Martin's new X-33 (VentureStar).
They include Arkansas, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, North Carolina,
New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington.
7) TAX BREAKS SOUGHT BY SPACE INDUSTRY: A proposal by Rep. Dana Rohrbacher
(R-Ca.), the "zero gravity-zero tax" would exempt from taxes all space
corporations that produce new technologies or push old ones to new limits.
Expect to see this proposal at the top of industries agenda in the next
Congress.
8) U.N. PRESS CONFERENCE: On October 15 the New York City Women's Int'l
League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF) and the Global Network held a press
conference at the United Nations in New York to call upon the international
community to take action to stop the August 18, 1999 nuclear fly-by of
Cassini. Tina Bell (WILPF) did much of the organizing of the event and Karl
Grossman from the Global Network was one of the speakers.
9) NORTH CAROLINA TO IOWA: Friends and members of the GN continue to bring
the message about the nuclearization and weaponization of space to their
communities. A guest editorial called "Protest Weapons in Space" by our
long time friend Olive Wilson appeared in the newspaper called the Northwest
Iowa Review (right in the middle of corn and pig country). And in North
Carolina GN member and advisory board member Bill Towe is speaking to groups
about our work and taking the issue to the national board meeting of Peace
Action which he is a member of.
10) ENGLAND SPACE MEETING: Yorkshire Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)
will be holding a "Colonizing Space: Peaceful Exploration or Military
Adventure" on November 14 at Vaughan College in Leicester. Karl Grossman
from the Global Network will be among the speakers. E-mail to
cndyorks@gn.apc.org for more info.
11) FLORIDA SPACE MEETING: On February 27, 1999 the Global Network will
hold a statewide space organizing meeting in Cocoa Beach at the Solar Energy
Center. The event will be co-sponsored by the Florida Coalition for Peace &
Justice. The meeting will be followed by a vigil at the front gates of Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station. Topics to be discussed will include space
weapons; the Cassini fly-by; and space solar power developments.
12) GLOBAL NETWORK MEETING IN GERMANY: On March 3-5, 1999 the Global
Network will hold its 7th Annual Meeting. The event will be held in
Darmstadt, Germany. All who are interested in space issues are invited to
attend. Contact us for more info.
13) SPACE LAW TO BE DISCUSSED: The Colorado Springs-based Citizens for
Peace in Space will be holding an event some time this winter to discuss
Space Law and the efforts of the U.S. to manipulate it in order to deploy
weapons in space and to make ownership claims on celestial bodies. For
details call CPIS at (719) 389-0644.
14) NUKES IN SPACE II VIDEO: The much anticipated re-make of the award
winning video "Nukes in Space" is now available. Karl Grossman and Steve
Jambeck have worked hard to make the new video even better than the
original. And shorter too, only 29 minutes this time. Send your check for
$23 (includes S/H) to the Global Network, PO Box 90083, Gainesville, Fl.
32607.
15) GLOBAL NETWORK MEMBERSHIP: At this time the GN is an all volunteer
organization, no paid staff. In order to stop this enormous juggernaut
pushing nukes and weapons into space we will need to be more visible and
more active. It is our hope to soon publish a print newsletter but at this
time we have no funds to do it. If you'd like to support our work please
consider taking out a membership in our growing organization. Group and
individual memberships are on a sliding scale, pay what you can best afford
between $25 - $100. And please help us by forwarding this e-mail to your
own list. Thanks.
For peace in space,
Bruce K. Gagnon
Coordinator
PO Box 90083
Gainesville, Fl. 32607
(352) 337-9274
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