Keep Space for Peace Week Events List: October 1-8, 2016

[bananas]

http://space4peace.blogspot.in/2016/09/space-week-final-events-list.html

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016

Space Week Final Events List

October 1-8, 2016

Keep Space for Peace Week
International Week of Protest to Stop the Militarization of Space

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[bananas]

1. Space Week Event at BIW (Bath Iron Works)

http://space4peace.blogspot.in/2016/10/space-week-event-at-biw.html

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 02, 2016
Space Week Event at BIW

Yesterday about 35 of us gathered in Bath, Maine for our Keep Space for Peace Week event in solidarity with others around the world.

At Bath Iron Works (BIW) the Navy Aegis destroyer is built that is outfitted with so-called 'missile defense' systems which are key elements in Pentagon first-strike attack planning. The interceptor missiles on-board these ships are the 'shield' that would be used to knock out Russian or Chinese retaliatory strikes after a US first-strike.

In 2008 the Navy used an Aegis destroyer's interceptor missile to knock a failed US satellite out of the sky demonstrating that these systems could also serve a role as an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon.

We gathered in front of the BIW administration building and then walked down the street to a gate where workers filed out at noon from their weekend shift at the shipyard.

Once we were finished with the protest we all gathered at a local church for a pot luck lunch and rehearsal for the coming trial of the Zumwalt 12 who were arrested on June 18 for blocking the entrance to the 'christening' of the second Navy Zumwalt stealth destroyer. Each of us made a statement of why we were arrested that day and the audience performed the role of the jury giving us feedback on our statements.

At the top of this post you can see the statement of Connie Jenkins. (Thanks to Lisa Savage for making the video. See Lisa's full report on the event here.)

[MicaelS]

2. No Nuclear Power in Space?

Fuck that to Infinity. Nuclear power is the only way we are going to be able to send humans into deep space. Solar power just won't work.

[bananas]

3. That's not just wrong, it's anti-science.

The solar-powered Juno spacecraft has been orbiting Jupiter since July 4, 2016:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karl-grossman/solarenergized-juno-to-ar_b_10699328.html

Stephen Hawking wants to use beamed energy from earth to send spacecraft to other star systems:
"Stephen Hawking and Billionaire Team Up on $100 Million Quest to Find Alien Life"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141412283

Obviously the beams could be solar-powered:
Each year the earth receives more solar energy than exists in all fossil and nuclear resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_consumption

The estimates of remaining non-renewable worldwide energy resources vary, with the remaining fossil fuels totaling an estimated 0.4 yottajoule (YJ) or 4 × 1023 joules, and the available nuclear fuel such as uranium exceeding 2.5 YJ. Fossil fuels range from 0.6 to 3 YJ if estimates of reserves of methane clathrates are accurate and become technically extractable. The total power flux from the sun intercepting the Earth is 5.5 YJ per year, though not all of this is available for human consumption.

[bananas]

4. There's also lots of chemical fuel available in space.

As Musk pointed out in his recent presentation, chemical fuel can be generated in-situ on Mars, as well as the moons of Earth, Mars, and other planets, allowing fuel depots to be built in deep space.

Nuclear isn't needed at all.