Word: earthness
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...January of 1978, the Soviet spy satellite Cosmos 954 dropped out of orbit and fell to earth. It did not completely disintegrate in the atmosphere. Instead, debris from the satellite fell across almost 40,000 square miles of northwest Canada. Metal from the sky is frightening enough, but this metal was radioactive...
Cosmos 954 is not the only Soviet satellite to fall back to earth. In January 1983, Cosmos 1402 disintegrated upon returning to earth. Some of its radiation still remains in the atmosphere. And just a few months ago, Cosmos 1900, a satellite also containing more than 100 pounds of enriched uranium 235, burned up in the upper atmosphere. Luckily, the satellite jettisoned its nuclear reactor, which is still floating in space, at a higher, longer-lived orbit...
There are approximately 40 radioactive Soviet satellites orbiting the earth today, all of which will ultimately fall back to earth. The prospect of what columnist Mary McGrory has called "flying Chernobyls" falling on our heads would frighten most of us, but the U.S. government isn't worried. Spurred on by Strategic Defense Initiative advocates, the government is planning to deploy its own earth-orbiting reactors, which would be hundreds of times more radioactive, and therefore many times more dangerous, than anything the Soviets have...
...head of the "Star Wars" program, Lt. Gen. James Abrahamson has admitted that nuclear power in space is necessary for SDI to work Without it, he said, "that's going to be a long, long lightcord that goes down to the surface of the earth." Ten percent of the SDI budget goes towards developing satellites powered by nuclear bomb pulses and nuclear reactors; current plans call for up to 100 to be put into orbit...
Because of its sheer size and influence, the U.S. must be in the vanguard of the effort to solve the earth's environmental crisis. Even before international bodies come up with global strategies, the U.S. can take many steps, unilaterally and immediately...