Wrong Stuff: The Space Program's Nuclear Threat to Our Planet [Hardcover]

Karl Grossman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1997

Despite the enormous danger and huge expense--and a clear alternative (solar power)--the U.S. government is pushing ahead with the deployment of nuclear power in space. The Wrong Stuff investigates the various projects--including the Cassini mission which will involve 72.3 pounds of plutonium--the government has planned, and explains why nuclear power is not needed for space exploration.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 270 pages
• Publisher: Common Courage Press (August 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567511252
• ISBN-13: 978-1567511253
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,738,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dumb, October 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Wrong Stuff: The Space Program's Nuclear Threat to Our Planet (Hardcover)

If you like raving paranoid conspiracy theories, this one might be for you. It seemed poorly researched with big gaps in logic to me. Not enough plot to be science fiction, not enough facts to be journalism. Doesn't hold a candle to Tom Wolfe's _The Right Stuff_, which it is obviously (but unsuccessfully) trying to emulate.

21 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Ignorance At Its Utmost, November 4, 2000

By 

"[e-mail]" (Rolla, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wrong Stuff: The Space Program's Nuclear Threat to Our Planet (Hardcover)

The Wrong Stuff clearly shows that uninformed Americans are apt to believe a gross distortion of the truth, so long as it sounds scary and apocalyptic. This book sounds good for a science fiction, conspiracy theory. The book definitely is a thriller, fictitious all the way, designed to scare and outrage the reader. Sadly, the book is poorly researched and has a very faulty logic. If one is serious about the issue, they will do a risk-benefit analysis surrounding nuclear vs. solar vs. chemical energy sources. Anyone who thinks a deep-space satellite or probe could obtain enough power from solar cells is sadly mistaken, unless the power requirements were absolutely minimal or the solar cells enormous (and prohibitively expensive). Quite the reverse of this book, I'm shocked NASA hasn't resorted to using nuclear power more often in light of its obvious benefits. If you want a clearer understanding as to why Americans are sadly misinformed and generally against the use of nuclear power, read this book. Otherwise, don't waste your time. It is obvious the subject and style of this book was meant to be juicy (albeit often times false) in order to sell books. After all, telling everyone their safe doesn't make for a thrilling, good-selling book.

2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Space Madness, July 30, 2005

By 

Preston C. Enright (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wrong Stuff: The Space Program's Nuclear Threat to Our Planet (Hardcover)

In their mission to continue the public subsidy of their products, the rocket and nuclear power executives are putting people around the world at risk. As we know, these space shots are unreliable (and they also chew up another chunk of the ozone layer with their exhaust), and if the Prometheus Project continues, they will be carrying loads of plutonium that will rain down on the earth during another explosion. In fact, the Challenger was scheduled to have several pounds of plutonium on board during the launch that would've followed its explosion.
Our space program has received an endless wave of good publicity - Boeing and Lockheed fund think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute, NPR chit-chats with astronauts in space, and movies like "The Right Stuff" and the Tom Hanks film put the best spin possible on this wasteful and environmentally appalling effort to do god knows what in space (much of what's being done at NASA is classified military projects violating various treaties).
Reading this important book reminds one of the Bob Marley verse from his song "So Much Trouble in the World" - See men sailing on an ego trip/Blast off on a space ship/A million miles from reality/No care for you, no care for me.
Bravo to Mr. Grossman for puncturing the endless romanticization of this reckless project.
Grossman does additional important work through his tv project, EnviroVideo.