Shildonia
30-12-2004, 03:51
“All rise”, said the Usher. The Court was filled with the sounds of movement as everyone in the Court stood to show their respect for the three Judges, who entered the room in their ceremonial blue robes. They took their seats and the Chief of the Bench told the assembled crowd to sit down. As is traditional, he began his judgement with a summary of the facts.
“Five years ago, this court was asked by the Shildonian Branch of the Campaign for a Nuclear Free World to pass an injunction preventing the Shildonian Space Agency from placing in space a series of nuclear reactors as part of Project Hermes. These reactors would be used to power a fleet of interplanetary tugs to be used for the construction of manned outposts; initially on the surfaces of the Earth’s Moon, but with the possibility of building further manned outposts on the surface of Mars and Near Earth Asteroids”
“The reason for this request was that the Shildonian Branch of the Campaign for a Nuclear Free World feared that any accident during the launch of these reactors would spread radioactive contaminants across wide sections of the Earth, posing a threat to both the People’s Republic, and other nations.”
“It was held by my learned colleagues that the SSA should be prevented from launching these reactors until the reliability of the Hercules-class Semi-Reusable Extremely Heavy Lift Vehicle could be proven. To this end, they ordered that the injunction be reviewed after 200 launches, which they felt would be sufficient to gauge the reliability of the Hercules-Class. Six weeks ago, this number of launches was reached, and so the review of the injunction was begun. After hearing evidence from both parties, and after conducting our own investigations we have reached a unanimous conclusion”
“We found that during these 200 launches, only two launches suffered failure which caused the loss of the vehicle. The first of these occurred during SREHLV-53, when an explosion occurred 104 seconds into the flight. The cause of this failure was found to have been an explosion of a fuel tank in one of the satellites, which caused the External Fuel Tank to develop a leak, which led the Mission Director to order the self-destruct of the Hercules so as to avoid destruction of property and loss of life. The subsequent report into this accident found that the accident could not be attributed to the Hercules system, a conclusion that the Applicant concurred with.”
“The second failure occurred during SREHLV-103, when the Hercules was struck by lightening 90 seconds into the flight, leading to an explosion in the starboard Solid Booster Rocket. The Hercules then began to go out of control, and again the Launch Director initiated the self-destruct procedures. The subsequent investigation found that engineers had concerns about launching the Hercules in adverse weather, but that the company that had chartered the launch dismissed these concerns as being “overcautious” and opted to proceed with the launch. The Applicant claimed that this demonstrated a reckless disregard for safety in the SSA, and that the injunction should therefore be extended indefinitely. The Defendant pointed out that it was a third party that overruled the engineers and proceeded with the launch, and that since that accident procedures had been put in place to prevent engineers from being overruled in this way, and that thunderstorms were now added to the list of weather conditions during which launches were prohibited. We are satisfied that these safety procedures will prevent a reoccurrence of the accident.”
“In making our judgement, we also considered the potential implications of prohibiting exploration of the Solar System. During our investigations we heard evidence that the lunar surface contains resources of vital strategic importance, such as large supplies of oxygen, which could be used to fuel further exploration. We also heard evidence about the possible uses of Helium-3, which could provide a cheap, clean and safe source of electricity. We also considered the possible effects to national security of losing technical leadership to possible enemies, which we consider to be a matter of gravest concern.”
“In deciding this case, we found the need to balance the risk to the environment should one of these reactors be involved in an accident against the potentially vast wealth that may be found, and the untold benefits to national security of securing what is possibly the ultimate high ground.”
“It is therefore the decision of this court that the injunction against the Shildonian Space Agency be lifted. We wish them the best of luck in their endeavours.”
“Five years ago, this court was asked by the Shildonian Branch of the Campaign for a Nuclear Free World to pass an injunction preventing the Shildonian Space Agency from placing in space a series of nuclear reactors as part of Project Hermes. These reactors would be used to power a fleet of interplanetary tugs to be used for the construction of manned outposts; initially on the surfaces of the Earth’s Moon, but with the possibility of building further manned outposts on the surface of Mars and Near Earth Asteroids”
“The reason for this request was that the Shildonian Branch of the Campaign for a Nuclear Free World feared that any accident during the launch of these reactors would spread radioactive contaminants across wide sections of the Earth, posing a threat to both the People’s Republic, and other nations.”
“It was held by my learned colleagues that the SSA should be prevented from launching these reactors until the reliability of the Hercules-class Semi-Reusable Extremely Heavy Lift Vehicle could be proven. To this end, they ordered that the injunction be reviewed after 200 launches, which they felt would be sufficient to gauge the reliability of the Hercules-Class. Six weeks ago, this number of launches was reached, and so the review of the injunction was begun. After hearing evidence from both parties, and after conducting our own investigations we have reached a unanimous conclusion”
“We found that during these 200 launches, only two launches suffered failure which caused the loss of the vehicle. The first of these occurred during SREHLV-53, when an explosion occurred 104 seconds into the flight. The cause of this failure was found to have been an explosion of a fuel tank in one of the satellites, which caused the External Fuel Tank to develop a leak, which led the Mission Director to order the self-destruct of the Hercules so as to avoid destruction of property and loss of life. The subsequent report into this accident found that the accident could not be attributed to the Hercules system, a conclusion that the Applicant concurred with.”
“The second failure occurred during SREHLV-103, when the Hercules was struck by lightening 90 seconds into the flight, leading to an explosion in the starboard Solid Booster Rocket. The Hercules then began to go out of control, and again the Launch Director initiated the self-destruct procedures. The subsequent investigation found that engineers had concerns about launching the Hercules in adverse weather, but that the company that had chartered the launch dismissed these concerns as being “overcautious” and opted to proceed with the launch. The Applicant claimed that this demonstrated a reckless disregard for safety in the SSA, and that the injunction should therefore be extended indefinitely. The Defendant pointed out that it was a third party that overruled the engineers and proceeded with the launch, and that since that accident procedures had been put in place to prevent engineers from being overruled in this way, and that thunderstorms were now added to the list of weather conditions during which launches were prohibited. We are satisfied that these safety procedures will prevent a reoccurrence of the accident.”
“In making our judgement, we also considered the potential implications of prohibiting exploration of the Solar System. During our investigations we heard evidence that the lunar surface contains resources of vital strategic importance, such as large supplies of oxygen, which could be used to fuel further exploration. We also heard evidence about the possible uses of Helium-3, which could provide a cheap, clean and safe source of electricity. We also considered the possible effects to national security of losing technical leadership to possible enemies, which we consider to be a matter of gravest concern.”
“In deciding this case, we found the need to balance the risk to the environment should one of these reactors be involved in an accident against the potentially vast wealth that may be found, and the untold benefits to national security of securing what is possibly the ultimate high ground.”
“It is therefore the decision of this court that the injunction against the Shildonian Space Agency be lifted. We wish them the best of luck in their endeavours.”