Space Education & Strategic Applications Volume 2, Number 1, Fall 2020/Winter 2021 | Page 33

Commentary : Nukes in Space 2021

nuclear bomb explosions would render Mars radioactive . The nuclear bombs would be carried to Mars on the fleet of 1,000 Starships that Musk wants to build — like the one that blew up in a fireball in December . “ Fortunately ,” reported NBC ’ s Nightly News host Lester Holt , “ no one was aboard .”

But what if nuclear materials had been aboard ? What if one or more of those hydrogen bombs were aboard ? What if a nuclear reactor which was supposed to be delivered to the Moon or Mars was aboard ?

Be Careful What You Ask

My interest in nuclear space issues began 35 years ago from reading a U . S . Department of Energy newsletter about two space shuttles : the Challenger , which was to be launched the following year with plutonium aboard , and Atlantis .

The plutonium aboard the shuttles in 1986 was intended to be used as fuel in radioisotope thermoelectric generators ( RTGs ) that were meant to provide a small amount of electric power for instruments on space probes released from the shuttles once they achieved orbit .

Referring to the U . S . Freedom of Information Act as support , I asked myself what the consequences would be for an accident in the lower or upper atmospheres or an accident on launch — and the impacts of the dispersal of deadly plutonium . A few years earlier , I authored Cover Up : What You Are Not Supposed to Know About Nuclear

Power , so I was quite familiar with plutonium — which is considered the most lethal radioactive substance

“ I contacted The Nation magazine and asked whether they were aware that the next launch of the Challenger was directed as a nuclear mission . Shockingly , they did not . “

— Karl Grossman

Searching for Answers

For ten months there was a stonewall of challenges to my FOIA request by DOE and NASA . Upon finally receiving the information , though heavily redacted , they responded that the likelihood of a shuttle accident releasing plutonium was “ small .” One document stated that :

“ The risk would be small due to the high reliability inherent in the design of the Space Shuttle .” NASA placed the odds of a catastrophic shuttle accident at one-in-100,000 .

Then , on January 28 , 1986 , the Challenger blew up .

It was on its next mission , in May 1986 , that it was slated to include a plutonium-fueled RTG aboard . I contacted The Nation magazine and asked whether they were aware that the next launch of the Challenger was to be a nuclear mission . They were not .

As this was a terrifying surprise to both of us , The Nation suggested that I author a front-page editorial to expose what we entitled “ The Lethal Shuttle .”

27