European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 09, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A David Levy from left Eugene Shoemaker and Carolyn Shoemaker display images of the Comet named after them. Space invaders Jupiter bombardment Renews Calls for Early warning system by William j. Broad the new York times he Chicken Little crowd which once Drew smiles by suggesting that Earth could be devastated by killer rocks from outer space is suddenly finding its warnings and Agenda taken seriously now that Jupiter has taken a beating in recorded history s biggest show of cosmic violence. The political fallout from the Jovian fireworks is still developing and the test of whether it will translate into a Federal program May be a year or More away. But Federal plans Are being Laid to create a $50 million network of Early warning telescopes Elhat one Day might help save Earth from collision with an icy intruder. You re going to see this thing take off like a rocket rep. George e. Brownjr d-calif., who Heads the House science committee said of the plans in an interview. It s going to be easy to sell in the  drawing an analogy to a different Field of research Brown said that nothing put Federal Money into geophysics faster than earthquakes Thauley Astatic major cities. On july 20, As the bombardment of Jupiter by fragments of Comet Shoemaker Levy 9 produced startling images of Earth sized fireballs Brown s committee voted to require the National aeronautics and space administration to track any major comets or asteroids that threaten to hit Earth. Astronomers already know of More than 100 whose paths occasionally Cross Earth s orbit and estimate that As Many As 2,000 May be speeding through space on such paths and Are big enough to do global damage. Nasa reacted quickly to the committee s vote starting a feasibility study of a warning system. The six person study panel is to be headed by or. Eugene Shoemaker a discoverer of the cometary fragments that slammed into Jupiter last month igniting flashes that outshone the planet. The Nasa report is to be ready by february after which Brown and his allies will lobby for the creation of a Federal Early warning program beginning in the budget for the 1996 fiscal year. Analysts say the Jovian display May deter the customary critics of such of a plan. Nobody is going to dismiss this said or. Robert l. Park a physicist at the University of Maryland and spokesman for the american physical society the nation s pre eminent group of physicists. They May have before but they re hiding  in theory if the warning time were sufficient a Comet or asteroid found to be on a collision course with Earth could be diverted by a nuclear armed rocket detonated nearby. A comets and asteroids Are rubble left Over from the creation of the solar system. Comets Are composed of ice perhaps with Rocky nuclei while asteroids Are made of rocks and metals. Often Miles in diameter such celestial debris hurtles through the solar system at speeds of up to dozens of Miles a second. Asteroids Loop Conti Haily through the solar system s Interior and the ones passing near Earth tend to orbit the Sun once every couple of years advanced warning of collision is possible because they can be repeatedly observed and their looping orbits projected centuries nto the future. -.,-. _ in contrast comets Hail from the far fringes of the solar system and have Orbital periods up to millions of years in length. Thus warning might be possible for Only a year or so before a Comet s headlong crash into Earth today the skies tend to be scanned for potential intruders Only by mom and pop operations often using borrowed telescopes. Comet Shoemaker Levy 9 was discovered last year while Shoemaker a retired geologist his wife Carolyn and David h. Levy an Amateur astronomer were Hunting for comets and asteroids with a Small 18-Inch Telescope atop mount Palomar in Southern California. The Comet they found looked like a string of 21 pearls which had been created when the Comet was recently captured by Jupiter s gravitational Field and pulled apart. R ". Ithe great Moon hoax a series of photos shows parts of the Comet slamming into the lower left Section of Jupiter of july 18. At left an official at the Hong Kong space museum and a visitor left set up a Telescope to watch the Impact. Brown a physicist by training became interested in the collision Issue after an asteroid estimated at up to a half mile in diameter crossed Earth s path in 1989 at uncomfortably close Range coming within six hours of hitting. Astronomers discovered the asteroid Only after it had Whiz de by the planet. In 1990 Congress asked Nasa to study the danger. The space Agency produced two reports in 1992, one on collision warning and the other on avoidance j the former study said that at worst the Impact of a Large Comet or asteroid would be similar to Many thousands of nuclear warheads going off simultaneously at the same spot creating a global pall of dust that could Block sunlight disrupt the climate and possibly end civilization. Such a collision 65 million years ago is widely believed to have contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs.   The Nasa reports sketched out a general plan for ground based telescopes to scan the heavens to warn of impending danger of any were detected work would begin on interceptors to deflect a doomsday Rock. In March 1994 the House subcommittee on space held a hearing on the two Nasa reports and the general threat at the time some experts dismissed the Issue As laughably paranoid saying the Chance of a collision was wildly Remote. Even sympathetic ones said it was unclear whether the sketchy plans could gather the political support needed to get Money to the tightening Federal budget. As it turned out the death throes of Shoemaker Levy 9 the team s ninth discovery of a regular period Comet vere far More  Many experts had predicted giving the Early warning topic an enormous political boost.  Beth Mcleod Cox news service of probably think we went to the Moon. You probably believe everything you saw on television 25 years ago two american. Astronauts walking talking taking that giant leap from spaceship into history. You probably believe what was printed in every newspaper of the time you of course Are the simple majority. Just Don t assume everyone thinks like you do. Did t you know some people think it was a $24 billion hoax. This gentleman for one it s a fact that the space program is not real. It is no big secret. There s pro baby not an adult who takes it seriously. They had jeeps and a Golf course up there talk about burlesque  that s Charles k. Johnson president of the Flat Earth research society International headquartered at his Home in California. His organization has a mailing list of 3,500 Flat Earthern and curious others. Johnson has t believed the Earth is round since he was 8. He declared the Moon missions Folly Back in july 1969. It was hard to believe such a joke was being pulled on the people Johnson recalls. His predecessor a British gentleman told journalists at the time he believed astronauts were hypnotized into believing they went into space. The whole Moon thing was a great deception staged by Nasa contractors. The space program is in the entertainment Field says Johnson. We re not mad about it. We re not wringing our hands Over it. It s entertainment for the masses like a perpetual Star trek going on. But there s no reality in  aside from iconoclasts like Johnson non believers Back then included old folks people born Well before Man flew people whose concept of technology would not allow them to believe such a journey was possible. The hoax theory was also perpetuated by the 1978 movie Capricorn one the fictional Story of three astronauts forced by Nasa to go along with a fake Landing Ori Mars. Despite All that we tried to do and to Tell the full Story there were those who maintained either half seriously or not that we faked the whole thing recalls Julian Scheer who was in charge of Nasa s Public affairs until 1971. That was not a widespread feeling but there were  proud to be among the first nonbelievers activist comedian Dick Gregory says Walter Cronkite s telecast clued him in to the hoax. Lbs mistakenly used some of Nasa s simulated film in its broadcast of Apollo 11 s Mission Gregory recalls and though Cronkite was upset and embarrassed it tripped Gregory s septic meter which has been running full time for decades. I strongly strongly believe it did t happen he still says 25 years later. In his theory of it All the . Government paid the soviets hush Money to keep the hoax secret. What was the payoff a $1 billion wheat Deal on easy credit terms Gregory says. The alleged live Moon pictures also Point to a phony Landing he says. The Moon would have no shadows on its surface he says and we should have seen stars from the Moon but did t. A Public opinion poll taken soon after the Apollo 11 Mission showed 10 percent to 15 percent of americans thought it was fake he remembers. Jim Collier was not among them. He believed it All lock Stock and lunar Landing module Back in 1969. This new yorker says he changed his mind recently when he became senior editor of a Book to be published this year. He claims the Book written by a new Jersey inventor offers definitive proof the whole thing was a hoax. Every Point so far holds up that we never went to the Moon Collier says. He says he has spent most Haj researching the author s claims. Ralph Rene the author was not available for comment. Rene is incommunicado Collier says until the Book is  Collier hesitated to reveal too much of the Book but says it gives solid reasons Why such a hoax would be played. He also says the Book reveals that someone saw it All staged at a lbs studio. Victoria House press Collier s publishing company is unknown to those who track Book publishers Large and Small. Nasa spokesman Brian Welch who was asked to respond to a list of Collier s questions says he could find no evidence Victoria House press has Ever published a Book. V nevertheless Welch answered the questions. Nasa is supposed to provide information on the space program he says so he did the Best he could to respond to questions he thought were pretty ridiculous an example Rene s research shows the image of Neil Armstrong was Spray painted on Buzz Aldrin s space mask in that famous shot of the two astronauts on the Moon. The question to Welch Why was this done what the hell am i supposed to do with that Welch says. And that s one of the More reasonable questions they  Twenty five years after Buzz Aldrin stood on the Moon some sceptics still think it was a big hoax. 16 the stars and stripes tuesday August 9, 1994 the stars and stripes 17