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From: Slocum@HI-MULTICS.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: It could have been worse.
Message-ID: <860222195435.678780@HI-MULTICS.ARPA>
Date: Sat, 22-Feb-86 14:54:00 EST
Article-I.D.: HI-MULTI.860222195435.678780
Posted: Sat Feb 22 14:54:00 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Feb-86 04:04:59 EST
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 21

Though the present tragedy is quite nasty, consider what could have
happened.  Let's say that the next scheduled shuttle flight exploded
instead.  This next flight was to carry the Galileo orbiter.  This
orbiter carrys a load of 43 pounds of Plutonium on-board.  (I may have
the figure wrong).

Plutonium is widely felt to be the most poisonous substance anywhere,
even if you disregard the radioactivity.  It has been said that less
than a pound spread thinly enough could kill every human being.

Now, imagine the shuttle exploding with this cargo.  Ten miles up.
Practically maximum possible dispersion.

In the very least, several thousand, perhaps several hundred thousand
people would develop cancer and plutonium poisoning.

In the shuttle tragedy, we lost seven lives, and Challenger.  It could
have been much worse.

    Brett Slocum
    (Slocum@HI-MULTICS.ARPA)