News From NASA

John Berge

1990

Published in:

The Northwest Technocrat, 1st quarter 1990, No. 318

The news released from Mountain View, California tells us that the Galileo space probe is performing as planned and is expected to enlarge mankind's knowledge significantly. This is good news -- but there is some bad news that goes with it.

The spacecraft is carrying 49.4 pounds of strontium 90, and we are told that this is the most dangerous and deadly material on Earth. That strontium 90, it is planned, will power the instruments when the spacecraft finally reaches Jupiter.

In its path to Jupiter, the spacetraft is planned to make one close approach to Venus and two close approches to Earth, it must do this in order to gain the speed that it needs by using the benefit of the gravity of Venus and Earth. After swinging by Earth the second time, in 1992, the spacetraft will be traveling at 87,200 miles per hour. ``Close approach,'' it is reported, means only 150 miles from Earth.

The launch of the shuttle which carried the spacecraft into orbit was given much notice in the media, but scarcely noticed was an item about the presence of a crowd of protesters at the launch. What were they protesting? Were they fools who enjoy resisting anything that resembles progress? Or were they people who wanted answers, people who had reason for a lack of trust in the pronouncements from the media?

It does seem arrogant to subject people to risk when those people who are involved vitally have no notion of any benefit to be derived from that risk. We have been told that 49.4 pounds of strontium 90, evenly distributed over the earth, would kill all life. If the spacecraft were to be misdirected and hit the earth at 87,200 miles per hour, and even if it didn't break open, the container holding the strontium 90 would undergo considerable strain and would lie somewhere, waiting to corrode and disperse its terrible cargo. How sure of their steering are those people who are directing the spacecraft?

We know from experience that scientists often have difficulty fighting through frustrating obstacles to get an important story told. We know also that the media, with a few small exceptions, is owned by giant corporations and is operated -- not for the benefit of people -- but solely for profit. We all must know these things, and we also have a recent and very visible example of what could go wrong with technology, and with devastating effect, in the Challenger explosion. We should remember that the same forces are in place that caused the shuttle Challenger to fail. What assurance did anyone have that this launch was any less compromised by the forces of the Price System?

With a little attention to the facts, people could have a better conception of the social system that they have dealt with all their lives, and which creates those problems that could be fatal to them -- we refer particularly to those problems that could be fatal to them -- we refer particularly to those problems that stem from an incorrect management of our technology.

North American scientists, engineers and technicians demonstrate their competence continuously. They relate to one another in their unique fashion and get jobs done -- the accomplishments of those jobs are their lives, their status and their pride -- and the public is the beneficiary of their concerns. Yet, in each establishment is a requirement that must be satisfied, money. Each group of people must be controlled at its head by a person or persons who deal with money; and people who deal with money, by the nature of the game, are involved in money for one reason -- profit.

It is like a giant pyramid that is composed of many layers of smaller pyramids, and with each of those pyramids having at its apex -- a money person. The money person's expectation of profit may be long-range, but it is there. This is a screening process, and decisions must satisfy the people at the apexes of the pyramids. There may be a benefit to people from those decisions, assuredly, that is the usual business of the people beneath the apexes of the pyramids, but profit must be the criterion by which all is finally measured. And so it is under the Price System, all the way to the top of the pyramid -- which is Washington and Ottawa.

The public has a tendency to seek out a person or persons on which to place blame for the failure of technology, but, instead, people should be very surprised that technology operates at all after having been compromised by politics and business. Failure should be expected.

We undertake risk when we are born, and continue to take risks all our lives. Some of us learn to weigh need against risk and then to take a chance if the gain outweighs that risk. Sometimes we lose, and then perhaps we can be philosophic about losing; after all we did it to ourselves. But, is that the case here? Have we been part of the decision to undertake the risk of our destiny; to put our leves into the care of this social system? Is thes actually the case?

We have been told, if we have been paying attention; and the evidence confronts us every day, that we select leaders from among those who demonstrate only acting ability, who only seem to understand what they talk about -- and who have nice teeth! They attempt to regulate our social system by regulating its people. They are not those who can recognize that it is the technology that requires intelligent management, and they do not have a suspicion of what that would be like.

Perhaps the gain is great enough to be worth the risk involved in this case, but how certain can we be that Price System influences haven't increased our risk intolerably? If we ever become aware of the risks we take daily because of stupid adherence to an inappropriate social system, perhaps we will then have the intelligence to insist that Technocracy can fulfill our need for security.