WHAT'S NEW Friday, 24 Jan 03

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 24 Jan 03   Washington, DC

1. NASA: TWICE ABANDONED, IS NUCLEAR ROCKET DEVELOPMENT ON AGAIN?
Efforts to develop a nuclear rocket engine were abandoned in 1972
to make funds available for the space shuttle.  That was the
first bad choice.  The idea was secretly revived in the eighties
as project Timberwind, based on the use of a uranium carbide
particle bed reactor to heat hydrogen as a high specific impulse
propellant.  It was intended to provide a pop-up launcher for a
Star Wars missile defense.  That wasn't a great plan either, and
Timberwind died when SDI died (WN 5 Apr 91).  Now, as project
Prometheus, its development is being linked to possible human
exploration of Mars.  It is even rumored that President Bush will
announce plans for human exploration of Mars in his January 28
State of the Union Address to Congress.  That's yet another bad
idea.  The exploration of Mars should be carried out by robots,
but that's no reason not to develop a nuclear rocket.  It would
greatly speed up robotic exploration of the solar system. 

2. BIOSPHERE-2: COULD A HUMAN COLONY ON MARS BE SELF-SUSTAINING? 
When eight "biospherians," dressed in Star-Trek uniforms, marched
into their gleaming 3-acre terrarium in 1991 and closed the air
lock, it was hailed as a bold experiment. They vowed to remain
for two years, recycling water, air and waste and growing their
own food.  It didn't take that long to get an answer.  Within
weeks, the crystal-clear "ocean" turned to slime.  Biospherians
were soon gasping for air; then the crops failed.  Texas oil
billionaire Edward Bass, who had bankrolled Biosphere-2, turned
to Columbia University to find a legitimate science use.  But the
original research question was already answered: Far larger and
more elaborate than anything that could be transported to Mars,
Biosphere-2 could not sustain eight humans.  Columbia is pulling
out, but Biosphere-2 could still be useful.  Anyone who proposes
a space colony could be sent there to live for two years. 
                                             
3. PRIVACY: SENATE BLOCKS "TOTAL INFORMATION AWARENESS" FUNDING.
By a voice vote, the Senate yesterday voted to ban funding for
the "Total Information Awareness" program until the Pentagon
provides an analysis of its impact on civil liberties (WN 20 Dec
02). The program would involve electronic surveillance of
personal data of all Americans.   The senators were also
concerned that the program would be under John Poindexter, who
was national security advisor to President Reagan.  Poindexter
was convicted of lying to Congress in the Iran-Contra scandal. 
On appeal, his conviction was set aside only on the grounds that
his immunized congressional testimony had been used against him. 
The TIA ban is not yet law.  Introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR),
it was added to a spending package which must still go to
House/Senate negotiators to resolve differences.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND and THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY.  
Opinions are the author's and are not necessarily shared by the
University or the American Physical Society, but they should be.
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