That's what NASA claimed last year about the Titan 4 rocket to be used to loft the Cassini space probe with 72.3 pounds of plutonium dioxide, more deadly plutonium than ever put on a space device. The fiery August 12 explosion on launch of an identical Titan 4 rocket, following the 1993 explosion in California of yet another Titan 4 rocket, has given lie to the NASA claim. There have now been two catastrophic accidents in the 25 Titan 4 launches. And it still totally unclear what poisons were dispersed in the most recent Titan 4 explosion. Government authorities are demanding people stay away from the debris but not being specific about what the debris contains.
Space accidents cost lots of money.
And then there's the cost of Lockheed Martin's Titan 4 rockets. NASA wants to use the Earth's gravity to increase the velocity of Cassini so it can reach its final destination of Saturn. Cassini is supposed to come flying in at 42,300 miles per hour just 496 miles overhead. Independent scientists say casualties could be much higher hundreds of thousands or millions dying. These nuclear shots would be launched with the Titan 4 as a principle delivery vehicle.