-Caveat Lector- http://www.itn.co.uk/news/20010510/world/07satellites.shtm Russia loses control of satellites "Russia no longer has the working fleet of early warning satellites that reassured its leaders that they were not under attack during the most recent false alert." - Geoffrey Forden of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Russia has lost control of four military satellites after a fire at an important relay station fuelling US fears of Moscow triggering a false alarm launch over the ageing nuclear early-warning system. Military chiefs insisted however the overall satellite control system was working normally. "As a result of the fire, we do not have constant contact with four satellites," Anatoly Perminov, commander of Russia's Space Forces, told state-run RTR television. "Restoring permanent contact with these satellites will technically be possible once the fire is extinguished," he said. "The entire satellite control system is working normally, including ones with a military designation." Defence Ministry officials as said an electrical short circuit started the blaze at the relay station near Serpukhov, in the Kaluga region some 120 miles (200km) southwest of Moscow. Firefighters were sent from the capital to help tackle the blaze with specialised foam-making equipment that Defence Ministry crews on the scene lacked. No one was injured and all secret documents, computer programmes, weapons and equipment were rescued from the burning relay station, Perminov said. Starved since the collapse of the Soviet Union of the vast funds it once enjoyed, the Russian military keeps much ageing equipment in use well past its designed lifespan. Short of cash Military specialist Alexander Golts said that 70 percent of Russia's 100-130 military satellites were nearing the end of their operational life. Bureaucratic reorganisations have left the satellite network short of cash and bedevilled by a complicated chain of command. "Another of the habitual bureaucratic restructurings is going on right now. All the space forces are being separated from the structure of the Strategic Rocket Forces. Two years ago they merged," he said. Geoffrey Forden of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wrote last week that Russia's failing space-based early-warning systems posed a potential risk. "Russia no longer has the working fleet of early warning satellites that reassured its leaders that they were not under attack during the most recent false alert," he said in an article posted on the Cato Institute website. He was referring to a 1995 incident in which Russia briefly mistook a scientific rocket launched from Norway for a US nuclear missile. "With decaying satellites, the possibility exits that, if a false alert occurs again, Russia might launch its nuclear-tipped missiles," he wrote. At the time, Russian officials dismissed the article as groundless. -- Best Wishes We only regret that the editors of The Daily Californian allowed themselves to give in to pressure in a manner that unfortunately violated their professional integrity and journalistic duty to protect speech with which they may disagree. The knee-jerk response by the Californian is frighteningly indicative of the growing tendency of college newspapers to allow the opinions they publish to be stomped out for fear of being called names. - editorial, University of Wisconsin _Badger Herald_, on the supine response of other college newspapers to campus radicals recently. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
