(Henry Spencer) wrote:

In article ,
Guy Parry wrote:
It just occurred to me that I never heard so much as a peep out
of the anti-nuclear loonies about the RTG's carried aboard New
Horizons. Nothing on TV, nothing on the Net - absolutely nada. I
wonder what got up their noses so much about Galileo and Ulysses that
didn't with THIS particular launch?

The hard-core loonies were still excited about it, but their base of
public support has been dwindling steadily.

Given the lack of a noticeable change in anti-nuclear sentiment, I
doubt it.

For Galileo and Ulysses, there was significant commotion about it. For
Cassini, one or two small, half-hearted protests. Now, almost nothing.
They've cried wolf too many times.

Given that New Horizons flew pretty much under the public radar (not
being nearly as well known as Galileo and Ulysses) and the vast
distractions currently occupying that end of the lunatic fringe...

Not to mention that I don't recall the protests around Cassini as
being half-hearted. Plus there were two episode of protest, one
prelaunch and another during the flyby.

I'd not draw too confident a line through a single data point.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL