From: skunk-works-digest-owner@mail.orst.edu To: skunk-works-digest@mail.orst.edu Subject: Skunk Works Digest V5 #643 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@mail.orst.edu Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@mail.orst.edu Precedence: Skunk Works Digest Wednesday, 3 April 1996 Volume 05 : Number 643 In this issue: RE: Miniature Air-Launched Decoy / miniature turbine engines Re: Skunk Works Digest V5 #642 Re: British Police intereset in Darkstar Re: British Police intereset in Darkstar Re: British Police intereset in Darkstar Classified Titan Launch Re: British Police intereset in Darkstar Re: Classified Titan Launch RE: British Police interest in Darkstar Re: Skunk Works Digest V5 #642 Re: Big Safari Re: Big Safari Re: Big Safari DarkStar Press Release Re: Big Safari Another Press Release Nevada Test Site hearing (and Groom Lake) [long] See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the skunk-works or skunk-works-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Mark E. Schmidt" Date: Tue, 2 Apr 96 04:55:22 UT Subject: RE: Miniature Air-Launched Decoy / miniature turbine engines - ---------- From: owner-skunk-works@mail.orst.edu on behalf of Brentley Smith Sent: Monday, April 01, 1996 11:10 AM To: skunk-works@mail.orst.edu Subject: Miniature Air-Launched Decoy / miniature turbine engines Below is a transcript of a DoD Briefing which includes discussion by the Director of ARPA, Larry Lynn. Some or all of this may be old news, but interesting none-the-less. (It's from the Assistant Secretary of Defense Office's website @ "http://www.dtic.dla.mil/defenselink/osd/atsdpa.html".) Very Interesting post, thanks. ------------------------------ From: Nick Barnes Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 09:34:34 +0100 Subject: Re: Skunk Works Digest V5 #642 > From: Brett Davidson > Date: Tue, 2 Apr 1996 14:08:20 +1200 (NZST) > Subject: Re: British Police intereset in Darkstar > > Reminds me of a story that LA (ex) police chief Daryl Gates (?) had > proposed a satellite in geostationary orbit at the same latitude as LA > constantly watching the city for signs of disorder. Even Keyhole-class > optics wouldn't be able to resolve much at 36 000 km. Urban legend? Urban Legend, maybe. Impossible, yes (there is no such thing as a "geostationary orbit at the same latitude as LA"). Nick B ------------------------------ From: Paul Tennant Smith ITS95 Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 11:40:11 +0100 Subject: Re: British Police intereset in Darkstar Charles_E._Smith.wbst200@xerox.com wrote that Darkstar would not be effective for normal police work and I have to agree with him. But another possible use for the British police could be the use of Darkstar in border surveillance in Northern Ireland. At the moment the area is surveilled by a number of fortified posts. This area is not very secure and to insert and supply the troops used helicopters are required. Darkstar could depending upon its loiter time monitor the border and not expose any personnel to danger. Also would Darkstar be an effective way to monitor the US-Mexico border? ------------------------------ From: Charles_E._Smith.wbst200@xerox.com Date: Tue, 2 Apr 1996 03:31:02 PST Subject: Re: British Police intereset in Darkstar ptsmith writes: Darkstar could depending upon its loiter time monitor the border and not expose any personnel to danger. Also would Darkstar be an effective way to monitor the US-Mexico border? Hmm.... Maybe we should run this by Pat Buchanan. Chuck ------------------------------ From: Wei-Jen Su Date: Tue, 2 Apr 1996 13:40:23 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: British Police intereset in Darkstar On Tue, 2 Apr 1996, Paul Tennant Smith ITS95 wrote: > Charles_E._Smith.wbst200@xerox.com wrote that Darkstar would not be effective > for normal police work and I have to agree with him. But another possible use > for the British police could be the use of Darkstar in border surveillance in > Northern Ireland. At the moment the area is surveilled by a number of fortified > posts. This area is not very secure and to insert and supply the troops used > helicopters are required. Darkstar could depending upon its loiter time monitor > the border and not expose any personnel to danger. Also would Darkstar be an > effective way to monitor the US-Mexico border? > I don't know why we need to expend that much money? A normal UAV can do the job. We don't need a Stealth UAV to do the job. Does civilian criminals use radar for their defence? Does illegal immigrants use it too? I mean, there is another type of cheaper UAV can do the job and not necessary spend the money is a state of art UAV as it is the DarkStar. May the Force be with you Su Wei-Jen E-mail: wsu02@barney.poly.edu ------------------------------ From: "JOE P." Date: Tue, 02 Apr 1996 12:35:59 -0500 (EST) Subject: Classified Titan Launch I have a chance to be down near Kennedy/Canaveral Space Center in June. I webbed over to NASA and found that a classified Titan launch is scheduled for June but no more details were given. This seems to be to only launch in that time frame. I was wondering if there is a way, legally, to find out a little closer what the expected date/time of the launch is projected to be. Anyone have a hint you pass on to me as to where I might get enough info to let me and my kids see an actual rocket launch while we are down in the area? Any help would be appreciated. Pardon the lousy typing. The editor I am saddled with is TERRIBLE! ------------------------------ From: (Jay Waller) Date: Tue, 2 Apr 96 14:29:57 EST Subject: Re: British Police intereset in Darkstar Su Wei-Jen wrote: > I mean, there is another type of cheaper UAV can do the job and >not necessary spend the money is a state of art UAV as it is the DarkStar. Yup. Its called a blimp. Regards, JW ------------------------------ From: dadams@netcom.com (Dean Adams) Date: Tue, 2 Apr 1996 15:13:44 -0800 (PST) Subject: Re: Classified Titan Launch > I was wondering if there is a way, legally, to find out a little closer > what the expected date/time of the launch is projected to be. Anyone > have a hint you pass on to me as to where I might get enough info > to let me and my kids see an actual rocket launch while we are down > in the area? When the date gets closer to the scheduled launch time, they will release more info. If you keep on top of things and you are still in the area, you should be able to see it. The only other problem is that Titan IVs have been known to slip their launch dates sometimes by many months, although lately that record has been improving. BTW, last I heard there was a commercial Atlas launch scheduled at the Cape for TODAY... ------------------------------ From: "Mark E. Schmidt" Date: Wed, 3 Apr 96 05:21:26 UT Subject: RE: British Police interest in Darkstar Good point, Su. I'd not be surprised, however, to find that criminals did indeed use sophisticated radar devices, heheheh. - ---------- From: owner-skunk-works@mail.orst.edu on behalf of Wei-Jen Su Sent: Tuesday, April 02, 1996 1:40 PM To: Paul Tennant Smith ITS95 Cc: skunk-works-digest@mail.orst.edu Subject: Re: British Police intereset in Darkstar On Tue, 2 Apr 1996, Paul Tennant Smith ITS95 wrote: > Charles_E._Smith.wbst200@xerox.com wrote that Darkstar would not be effective > for normal police work and I have to agree with him. But another possible use > for the British police could be the use of Darkstar in border surveillance in > Northern Ireland. At the moment the area is surveilled by a number of fortified > posts. This area is not very secure and to insert and supply the troops used > helicopters are required. Darkstar could depending upon its loiter time monitor > the border and not expose any personnel to danger. Also would Darkstar be an > effective way to monitor the US-Mexico border? > I don't know why we need to expend that much money? A normal UAV can do the job. We don't need a Stealth UAV to do the job. Does civilian criminals use radar for their defence? Does illegal immigrants use it too? I mean, there is another type of cheaper UAV can do the job and not necessary spend the money is a state of art UAV as it is the DarkStar. May the Force be with you Su Wei-Jen E-mail: wsu02@barney.poly.edu ------------------------------ From: Mary Shafer Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 03:01:20 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Skunk Works Digest V5 #642 Physical reality and Daryl Gates were not closely acquainted--I can readily believe that he proposed this, impossible though it is. Mary Mary Shafer DoD #0362 KotFR shafer@ursa-major.spdcc.com URL http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/People/Shafer/mary.html Some days it don't come easy/And some days it don't come hard Some days it don't come at all/And these are the days that never end.... On Tue, 2 Apr 1996, Nick Barnes wrote: > > From: Brett Davidson > > Reminds me of a story that LA (ex) police chief Daryl Gates (?) had > > proposed a satellite in geostationary orbit at the same latitude as LA > > constantly watching the city for signs of disorder. Even Keyhole-class > > optics wouldn't be able to resolve much at 36 000 km. Urban legend? > > Urban Legend, maybe. Impossible, yes (there is no such thing as a > "geostationary orbit at the same latitude as LA"). > > Nick B > ------------------------------ From: drbob@creighton.edu Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 12:20:23 -0600 (CST) Subject: Re: Big Safari BIG SAFARI actually predates the Skunk Works as we have come to know it today. In the early 1950s, the BIG SAFARI program came about as a quick means to fulfill short-notice, highly classified intelligence-related programs. One of its first was a project known as PIE FACE, where a C-97 was equipped with a large camera for the Berlin corridor flights. Since that time, BIG SAFARI has produced the WB-57F, most of the RC-135 conversions, SR-71 and U-2 support, and a variety of U.S. and foreign tactical reconnaissance programs, including the Israeli RF-4 PEACE JACK project. Curiously, most of the goals of the BIG SAFARI program read like Kelly Johnson's "Skunk Work Rules." As far as I can deduce from the semi-official BIG SAFARI history, these rules actually predate Johnson's. I'll see what I can find about this and let you all know. Incidentally, BIG SAFARI is part of the Air Force, and not associated with a specific company. Although General Dynamics has done and continues to undertake some BIG SAFARI programs, other companies bear the lion's share, most notably E-Systems and its predecessors, especially LTV Electrosystems and LTV. If anyone is interested, you may be able to get more detailed info on BIG SAFARI by contacting the E-Systems public affairs people at Greenville, Texas. ------------------------------ From: Charles_E._Smith.wbst200@xerox.com Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 11:13:24 PST Subject: Re: Big Safari If memory serves, and it ain`t what it used to be, E-Sytems is located in Garland Texas. They have a hangar facility at Greenville airport, a general aviation uncontrolled (last time I was there - in the 80`s) airport about oh, 30 miles east of Big D. Chuck Plano Wildcats class of `74 ------------------------------ From: Charles_E._Smith.wbst200@xerox.com Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 11:04:12 PST Subject: Re: Big Safari If memory serves, and it ain`t what it used to be, E-Sytems is located in Garland Texas. They have a hangar facility at Greenville airport, a general aviation uncontrolled (last time I was there - in the 80`s) airport about oh, 30 miles east of Big D. Chuck Plano Wildcats class of `74 ------------------------------ From: Kathryn & Andreas Gehrs-Pahl Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 18:39:59 -0500 (EST) Subject: DarkStar Press Release Lockheed Martin's Press Release regarding DarkStar's first flight last week: PALMDALE, Calif. -- March 29, 1996 -- The Tier III Minus DarkStar High Altitude Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) successfully completed its first flight Friday. The vehicle took off from runway 040 at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., at 6:25 a.m. (PST). During the 20 minute flight, the vehicle achieved its planned altitude of approximately 5,000 feet and completed all preplanned basic flight maneuvers. The system successfully executed a fully automated flight from takeoff to landing utilizing the differential Global Positioning System (GPS). The Lockheed Martin DarkStar Program Manager Richard Karl noted that this major milestone is due to the excellent performance of the entire team. "The contractor team of Lockheed Martin and Boeing have produced a fully autonomous flight vehicle using streamlined prototyping and contracting under a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)/Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office (DARO) contract. "The support and contributions of NASA, Dryden and Edwards Air Force Base personnel are greatly appreciated and went a long way toward making the test program so successful," Karl said. The team expects to review the data from this flight and proceed to higher altitude flights in the near future. Friday's flight marks the start of a flight test program to evaluate basic system performance including the high resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Electro-optical (EO) payloads. At the completion of this work, the system will be prepared for a series of technical demonstrations with the Services. The program is pointing toward participating in Roving Sands '97 in May 1997. The DarkStar system is a high altitude endurance UAV optimized for reconnaissance in highly defended areas. It will operate within the current military force structure and with the existing command, control, communications, computer and intelligence equipment. It can operate at a range of 500 nautical miles and stay on station for greater than eight hours at an altitude greater than 45,000 feet. The air vehicle can carry either the SAR or the EO payload. The DarkStar program is managed by DARPA on behalf of DARO. The prime contractor team consists of Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, Palmdale, Calif.; Boeing Military Aircraft Division, Seattle; and Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space, Sunnyvale, Calif. - --- --- Andreas & Kathryn Gehrs-Pahl E-Mail: schnars@ais.org 313 West Court St. #305 or: gpahl@raptor.csc.flint.umich.edu Flint, MI 48502-1239 Tel: (810) 238-8469 WWW URL: http://www.umcc.umich.edu/~schnars/ - --- --- ------------------------------ From: Kathryn & Andreas Gehrs-Pahl Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 18:35:32 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: Big Safari The BIG SAFARI office of the AFMC's (Air Force Materiel Command's) ASC (Aeronautical Systems Center) at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, OH, was also responsible for the Teledyne Ryan BQM-34A Firefly, AQM-34L and other TRA reconnaissance drone programs, starting in 1962. Some mention of BIG SAFARI can be found in "Fireflies and other UAVs", by William Wagner and William P. Sloan. The BIG SAFARI office might be also responsible for or associated to other "BIG" programs, like BIG BELLY (B-52), BIG BIRD (KH-9), BIG CROW (NKC-135), BIG LOOK (EA-3A/EP-3E), BIG TAIL (SR-71A), BIG TEAM (RC-135B/C) and others, similar to the SYPO (SENIOR YEAR Projects Office) at Robbins AFB, Warner Robbins, GA, which is responsible for all SENIOR programs, like SENIOR BLADE, SENIOR BOOK (U-2), SENIOR BOWL (D-21), SENIOR CITIZEN, SENIOR CROWN (SR-71), SENIOR DANCE, SENIOR GLASS, SENIOR GUARDIAN (D-500), SENIOR HUNTER (EC-130E), SENIOR ICE (B-2), SENIOR JUMP (U-2), SENIOR KEYHOLE, SENIOR LANCE (U-2), SENIOR OPEN (U-2), SENIOR PROM, SENIOR RUBY (U-2), SENIOR SABER, SENIOR SCOUT, SENIOR SHUFFLE, SENIOR SKY (F-22), SENIOR SMART, SENIOR SPAN (U-2), SENIOR SPEAR (U-2), SENIOR SPUR, SENIOR STRETCH (U-2), SENIOR TALENT, SENIOR TREND (F-117), SYERS (SENIOR YEAR Electro-optical Relay System), etc. - -- Andreas - --- --- Andreas & Kathryn Gehrs-Pahl E-Mail: schnars@ais.org 313 West Court St. #305 or: gpahl@raptor.csc.flint.umich.edu Flint, MI 48502-1239 Tel: (810) 238-8469 WWW URL: http://www.umcc.umich.edu/~schnars/ - --- --- ------------------------------ From: Kathryn & Andreas Gehrs-Pahl Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 18:37:28 -0500 (EST) Subject: Another Press Release The Predator UAVs return to Bosnia with enhanced surveillance capability. Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. provides commercial off-the-shelf computers to upgrade surveillance of troop and weapons movements. CHELMSFORD, Mass. -- March 25, 1996 -- Mercury Computer Systems, Inc., a leading supplier of embedded computers for the military, announced today that its RACE(R) computers are being used in the latest Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) system carried aboard Predator unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are being deployed in Bosnia. Predator, an unmanned surveillance plane, was developed by General Atomics Aeronautics Systems, Inc. based in San Diego, Calif. The Tactical Endurance SAR system (TESAR), developed by Westinghouse Electronic Systems Group (now Northrop Grumman Electronic Sensors and Systems Division), an associate contractor on this project, has completed the test phase and will move to deployment in Bosnia aboard Predator. Aided by Mercury's high-performance computers, TESAR gives Predator an all-weather real-time surveillance capability and will assist the NATO commanders by monitoring troop and weapons movements as they continue to implement the peace agreement signed in Dayton, Ohio, earlier this year. "This is a classic example of how the new military is using advanced COTS technologies to gain rapid advantages in the field," said James R. Bertelli, CEO and President of Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. "The same standard COTS products are in wide use in numerous military programs as well as commercial applications, such as MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) in hospitals." High resolution SAR operates from the Ku through UHF bands and provides either wide-area coverage (strip-map mode) or point-target surveillance (Spotlight SAR mode). The latter allows the location and identification of objects viewed from 26,000 feet within an area as small as one square foot. An earlier version of the Predator system was first deployed in Bosnia in July 1995, where it conducted almost daily reconnaissance operations in combat environment for U.S. and NATO forces. The newly upgraded version carrying the U.S. military's most sophisticated radar and cameras will be sent to Bosnia this month. "This is an important step in further developing the Joint Endurance UAV programs," said John N. Entzminger, an Institute for Defense Analysis advisor to Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office (DARO). "By using COTS products, DARO has been able to bring this program to an early deployment in Bosnia in record time." Predator, also known as TIER II, has been produced as a quick reaction program supervised by DARO. This program allows the Pentagon to quickly demonstrate new and advanced technologies and to assess their potential for wider military use. Apart from TIER II, Mercury's computer systems are also used in TIER II Plus (in development) and TIER III Minus (Dark Star). Mercury has a history of successfully supporting complex military projects which have had "rapid development" as a principle measure of success. Since Mercury's RACE(R) systems are designed to be open and scalable, users have the ability to configure their systems in a variety of topologies with large numbers of different types of processors and high-performance I/O devices. Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. is a technology company specializing in application-specific signal processing solutions for diverse markets ranging from defense and security to medical diagnostic and commercial image processing. Mercury's RACE(R) series, with its building block approach to hardware and software, allows customers to build the most effective system for their application. The company's advanced interconnect fabric, RACEway Interlink, was recently adopted as an ANSI standard. Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. is headquartered in Chelmsford, and has offices throughout North America, Asia and Europe. With more than 30,000 units installed worldwide, Mercury serves customers in 14 countries. Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. on WWW: http://www.mc.com Predator TIER II Medium Altitude Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Fact Sheet * System Description: The MAE UAV Predator Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD), is a 30-month demonstration program with two years of follow-on contractor support. The system is designed to provide long-range, long-dwell, near real-time IMINT (Image Intelligence) to satisfy reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition mission requirements. * Derivative of Gnat 750, the first UAV deployed to the Bosnia theater. * Deployed to Bosnia in summer 1995 * Tactical Endurance SAR (TESAR) all-weather capability * Expanded EO/IR payload * Satellite control * GPS and INS * Over 24 hours on station at 500 NM * Operations to 26,000 feet * 465 LB payload * Span 48 feet, length 28 feet * Speeds to 120 KIAS * Military and non-military uses: - Extended reconnaissance, nuclear, biological and chemical weapons detection and treaty monitoring - Counter-narcotics support - Coastal and border surveillance, and embargo enforcement - Humanitarian and disaster relief - International peacekeeping support - Counter-insurgency or anti-terrorism operations * Civil/Commercial applications: - Synoptic viewing of selected areas, events, activities, or site inspection - Commercial communications relay, or provision of immediate cellular connectivity over an area of interest - Earth environmental monitoring - Transportation and delivery of commercial goods and services * The use of UAVs for non-governmental functions is projected to yield a commercial market of $2 billion annually as early as 2005. Source: DARO; General Atomics; UAV-95 Conference in Paris, June 1995. - --- --- Andreas & Kathryn Gehrs-Pahl E-Mail: schnars@ais.org 313 West Court St. #305 or: gpahl@raptor.csc.flint.umich.edu Flint, MI 48502-1239 Tel: (810) 238-8469 WWW URL: http://www.umcc.umich.edu/~schnars/ - --- --- ------------------------------ From: TRADER@cup.portal.com Date: Wed, 3 Apr 96 14:38:21 PST Subject: Nevada Test Site hearing (and Groom Lake) [long] [Nevada trip report] [April 3, 1996] On March 26, 1996, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) held a public hearing on their environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Nevada Test Site (NTS) at Cashman Field, in North Las Vegas. The Air Force's secret airbase at Groom Lake came up during the hearing (mentioned below), because it is strongly linked to the NTS. A copy of the 8 books in the NTS can be obtained for no charge by contacting: Environmental Protection Division U.S. Department of Energy P.O. Box 14459 Las Vegas, NV 89114 telephone: (800) 405-1140 or (702) 295-1433 (for Nevada residents) (Ask for the Environmental Impact Statement for the Nevada Test Site, document number DOE/EIS-0243). Also, for a good piece of press coverage on the hearing, see the story by Mary Manning on page 4A of the March 27, 1996 Las Vegas Sun newspaper. The hearing was chaired by Don Elle, the Director of the Environmental Protection Division at the Nevada Test Site. As one wag in the audience said, "It's as if central casting in Hollywood supplied someone who looks like the classic mad scientist!". The DOE had a number of exhibits with pictures in the hearing room. I suppose the DOE was trying to convince people that they are environmentally friendly at the Test Site by showing pictures of 'cute' small furry animals. After Don Elle explained the EIS process, he opened the floor to questions. The public's generally hostile tone for the evening was set by the first question, when Michael di Floria stood up and asked, "Why are we still making this deadly poison when we don't know how to clean up what we've already produced?" Another man, whose name I didn't catch said that he was a former NTS and Area 51 (Groom Lake base) worker and wanted to know why the DOE lost his records, so that he was unable to get medical benefits. Somebody asked Don Elle what he meant by "fissile materials" and he tried to dodge the question instead of answering that fissile materials were the plutonium and uranium in nuclear weapons. A woman asked about H.R. 1020, currently under discussion in Congress, that would significantly increase nuclear waste at the Test Site. This led a senior DOE official to ask Don Elle, "what the hell is H.R. 1020?" during the break, exposing the DOE's lack of knowledge about how events in Washington, DC could influence future activities at the NTS. After the break, the floor was opened to public comments. David Timothy, a rancher from Utah, discussed the horrible medical problems that he and his family had experienced from radioactive fallout, being downwind from nuclear tests during the 1950s. He got cancer of the thyroid and lymph nodes at age 18, and family members had medical problems such as leukemia, and being born without any protective enamel on their teeth. A Clark County government official for nuclear waste matters, expressed concern that the DOE planned to ship more nuclear waste to be stored at the NTS, through poor, minority neighborhoods. A number of environmentalists complained about the storage of chemical and nuclear wastes at the Test Site, and the cleanup plans for the Nevada Test Site. This angered a former Air Force officer, Vic Skaar, who said that he had been part of a nuclear weapons accident clean-up team in Spain in 1967. He said that he had "ate, drank, and pissed plutonium for 81 days" and it didn't harm him. He said another member of the clean-up team had died of cancer, but didn't think it was caused by exposure to plutonium. This led to the quote of the evening, when a woman stood up and said, "I don't want to wee-wee plutonium!". I presented material and used a military map and other documents to prove that the DOE's predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the DOE were deeply involved in building and operating the secret base at Groom Lake (see below). If anyone is interested in the NTS EIS process, you should make your comments to the address above before May 3, 1996. I also did some hiking while I was there. I recommend hiking up Grapevine Canyon, about 90 miles south of Las Vegas to see the ancient Native American petroglyphs carved on the canyon walls and the small caves and springs. To get there from Las Vegas, take U.S. Hwy. 95 south, and then go east on Nevada Hwy. 163. (the turnoff is just south of the tiny town of Cal-Nev-Ari.) Several miles before the turnoff to Laughlin, make a left turn on the dirt road with the sign that indicates the road goes to Christmas Tree Pass. Go north on this dirt road, and then turn left on the dirt road to Grapevine Canyon. The petroglyphs are about half a mile up the canyon. (The U.S. Geological Survey topographic 7.5 minute quad map is "Bridge Canyon, NV".). If you climb the ridges, you can see the Colorado River and surrounding mountains off in the distance and watch the hawks soaring above. If you continue north on the dirt road to Christmas Tree Pass, you will pass Spirit Mountain. The Mojave tribe called Spirit Mountain "Avikwame" and believed that it was the center of the universe. Paul McGinnis / TRADER@cup.portal.com / PaulMcG@aol.com http://www.portal.com/~trader/secrecy.html - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- STATEMENT OF PAUL MCGINNIS, NTS EIS HEARING, MARCH 26, 1996 Although the DOE prepared a comprehensive environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Nevada Test Site, I am bothered by what was omitted for "national security" reasons. For example, the DOE tried to obscure the existence of a classified appendix to the EIS that discusses the Lyner complex in Area 1 among other topics.[1] Without the information in the classified appendix, it is difficult for the public to determine the safety and health risks posed by some NTS projects. Another project that the DOE has studied, that is omitted from the EIS, is the Air Force's nuclear rocket program originally code-named TIMBERWIND, that later became the Space Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (SNTP) program, that was notorious for having a classified EIS. This 253 million dollar program was planned for a site near Saddle Mountain in Area 25 of the Nevada Test Site.[2][3] If you want to discuss safety risks, consider the effects of a rocket explosion like that of the Space Shuttle Challenger or the Titan missiles, except with a nuclear reactor onboard. Perhaps the biggest thing that the DOE has tried to conceal is their role, and the role of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in the saga of the Air Force's secret airbase at Groom Lake. The EIS mentions plutonium contamination in what it describes as Area 13 of the Nellis Air Force Range Complex, and then shows maps in the EIS that clearly indicate that Area 13 is part of the Groom Lake base.[4] The northeastern part of restricted airspace R-4808N, shown in the EIS maps, forms a rectangular box on military maps, sometimes referred to as "Dreamland" by military pilots, that contains Groom Lake and its secret Air Force base.[5] The maps show that the NTS supplies electrical power to the Groom Lake base and provides access to Groom Lake on 2 NTS roads, Mercury Highway and Valley Road. Although R-4808N contains an Air Force facility, this restricted airspace is controlled by the Department of Energy.[6] AEC documents from the 1950s and 1960s have been released that reveal the role of the DOE's predecessor at Groom Lake. The Groom Lake base was originally built in the mid-1950s by the AEC's contractor REECo (Reynolds Electrical Engineering Company) under the cover name "Watertown Strip" [7] for the CIA's U-2 aircraft program. A 1957 press release about a pilot who had to make an emergency landing at Watertown Strip revealed that "the Watertown landing strip is in the Groom Lake area at the northeast corner of the Nevada Test Site."[8] The Groom Lake facility eventually became known as Area 51 Camp and was frequently referred to as such in Nevada Test Site employee bulletins in the 1960s. For example, one bulletin even provided the telephone numbers for Area 51's base commander and security office.[9] By withholding information, like that described above, during a public environmental impact statement process, the DOE decreases the public's trust and violates the spirit of Secretary O'Leary's openness initiative. References [1] Dept. of Energy, Nevada Operations Office. Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Nevada Test Site and Off-site Locations in the State of Nevada. Volume 1, Appendix A. DOE/EIS 0243. January 1996: page A-12. [2] Dept. of the Air Force. Space Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Program. Particle Bed reactor Propulsion Technology Development and Validation. AD-A281 442. May 1993. [3] Dept. of Energy. J.F. Whitbeck and T. Olsen. Preliminary study of facility options for ground testing of a Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Engine. EGG-NPD-9548 (DOE contract AC07-76ID01570). June 1991. [4] Dept. of Energy, Nevada Operations Office. Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Nevada Test Site and Off-site Locations in the State of Nevada. Volume 1, Chapter 4, Part A. DOE/EIS 0243. January 1996. [5] Defense Mapping Agency. Nellis AFB Range Chart. NRCXX01. October 1988. [6] Defense Mapping Agency. Area Planning. Special Use Airspace. North and South America. AP/1A. September 14, 1995: page 81. [7] Atomic Energy Commission. Col. Alfred Starbird. Telex 8103 to K.F. Hertford on the Watertown Project. October 17, 1955. [8] Nevada Test Organization, Office of Test Information. Watertown press release. OTI 57-70. July 29, 1957. [9] Nevada Test Site. NTS Bulletin Volume IV, Number 2. January 15, 1960. For further information, contact: Paul McGinnis P.O. Box 28084 Santa Ana, CA 92799 ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V5 #643 ********************************* To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe skunk-works-digest in the body of a message to "majordomo@mail.orst.edu". If you want to subscribe something other than the account the mail is coming from, such as a local redistribution list, then append that address to the "subscribe" command; for example, to subscribe "local-skunk-works": subscribe skunk-works-digest local-skunk-works@your.domain.net To unsubscribe, send mail to the same address, with the command: unsubscribe skunk-works-digest in the body. 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