

Type of Document Master's Thesis Author Friedensen, Victoria Pidgeon URN etd-120899-134345 Title Protest Space: A Study of Technology Choice, Perception of Risk, and Space Exploration Degree Master of Science Department Science and Technology Studies Advisory Committee
Advisor Name Title J. Scott Hauger Committee Chair Gary Downey Committee Member Richard Hirsh Committee Member Steve Rayner Committee Member Keywords
- public protest
- nuclear power
- risk perception
Date of Defense 1999-10-11 Availability unrestricted Abstract The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to create a program for the human exploration of Mars that will rely heavily on nuclear technologies. NASA has an established nuclear technology program that recently became the focus of public protest over the risk from the technologies. Focusing on the Cassini mission to Saturn, the citizens protesting the mission claimed that the risk was environmental, global and moral. This protest is the first coherent international protest ever faced by the U.S. space program.
The language and ideas espoused by the anti-nuclear groups protesting the use of plutonium-238 to power the Cassini spacecraft shows a clear linkage between anti-nuclear power and environmental protests and nuclear war protests. The analysis focuses on the use messages and meanings that underlie the protestor's use of three acronyms: Not in My Backyard (NIMBY), Not on Planet Earth (NOPE), and Not [in] Outer Space Either (NOSE). The anti-space nuclear power protest is predicted to have significant consequences for NASA's planned human missions to Mars because of NASA's reliance on nuclear technologies such as radioisotope thermoelectric generators and nuclear reactors.
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28.8 Modem 56K Modem ISDN (64 Kb) ISDN (128 Kb) Higher-speed Access 01cover.doc 19.46 Kb 00:00:05 00:00:02 00:00:02 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 01cover.PDF 6.35 Kb 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 02dedication_acknowledgments.PDF 6.47 Kb 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 03table_of_contents.PDF 6.61 Kb 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 04chapter_1.PDF 29.19 Kb 00:00:08 00:00:04 00:00:03 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 05chapter_2.pdf 28.94 Kb 00:00:08 00:00:04 00:00:03 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 06chapter_3.PDF 38.12 Kb 00:00:10 00:00:05 00:00:04 00:00:02 < 00:00:01 07chapter_4.pdf 37.08 Kb 00:00:10 00:00:05 00:00:04 00:00:02 < 00:00:01 08chapter_5.PDF 67.13 Kb 00:00:18 00:00:09 00:00:08 00:00:04 < 00:00:01 09chapter_6.pdf 31.36 Kb 00:00:08 00:00:04 00:00:03 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 10bibliography.PDF 35.86 Kb 00:00:09 00:00:05 00:00:04 00:00:02 < 00:00:01 11appendix_a.PDF 15.46 Kb 00:00:04 00:00:02 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 12Figure_3.PDF 25.97 Kb 00:00:07 00:00:03 00:00:03 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 13Figure_5.PDF 13.11 Kb 00:00:03 00:00:01 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 14Figure_6.PDF 5.57 Kb 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 15appendix_b.PDF 7.88 Kb 00:00:02 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 < 00:00:01 < 00:00:01
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