Project Lucifer

"Non est ad astra mollis e terries via." - Seneca
There is no easy way from the earth to the stars.

This is a documentation and study of the feasibility of creating a sustainable fusion reaction from an initial fission reaction on Saturn caused by a significant quantity of Plutonium-238 being inserted deep into the atmosphere. A fusion-ignited Saturn-sun would be the key to creating a human-habitable area on Titan. This report is the result of my intensive research on this subject since late 2002. I could not be so confident in my assertions if it were not for the additional key research of Jacco van der Worp, a Netherlands physicist, and former NASA Consultant, Richard C. Hoagland. I am sure I will be accused of being an alarmist, but I believe the information presented here will convince any open mind that there is at least some suspicious activity regarding NASA's Galileo and Cassini missions.

“~Exotic Titan, Saturn's largest moon, like an early earth frozen in time~” ¹

There are a few people in the world, who with endless imagination and creativity in union with massive resources and high technology have been playing “God” and secretly experimenting with changing the makeup of our solar system. There are not too many plans conceived that could be greater than creating a new star in our own backyard. One could almost claim godship upon success. Although at first I considered hiding what I knew so that the plan would go forward with full success, in the end my conscience overcame this desire since I knew there could be dangerous Earth implications for such a plan. Also keeping something this large a secret would be like finding a massive buried treasure while deep-sea diving and then never returning or telling anyone about it. (I still find myself wavering back and forth between wanting to see this spectacular plan unfold and not wanting it to happen knowing the potential consequences). I first stumbled onto the reality of this project while reading a famous conspiracy book entitled “Behold A Pale Horse” by William Cooper, former U.S. Naval Security Briefing Team member. Most people who came across Cooper's short account (only a couple paragraphs) immediately discounted it, afterall, creating a star with a plutonium bomb sounds somewhat incredible at first, but this idea captured my imagination and completely fascinated me.

I kept asking myself, “Why discount this?” With advanced knowledge and technology, I could see how some great minds would start to think about doing once impossible things. The more I checked into the facts, the more I became convinced that Cooper did not just make this up out of the blue. Too many coinciding events that he had predicted started manifesting themselves for it all to be just a tale. I could not keep quiet anymore about the plan despite my appreciation of the deep science, creativity, and innovation that made it possible. Also, despite the long odds of the event occurring, I felt compelled to warn the public because of the potential danger from the cast-off of matter that normally occurs in a star's ignition. I will also make a case that there is a great deal of ritualistic symbology associated with the timing of this event, symbology that has strong ties to Freemasonry (old and new). I ask the reader to consider this scenario first: If a handful of the world's greatest scientists were hired and paid top dollar by an organization with great wealth to solve a nearly impossible scientific problem and were allowed to work on it full time for years or even decades, do you think they would have a good shot at solving the problem, assuming they had the latest and greatest technology at their fingertips and were allowed to work in secrecy? My personal answer to this is “Yes, I believe they would have a very good chance!” One needs only to know the story of the “Manhattan Project” to see this.

The logic of the Lucifer Project other than the extreme thrill of creating something so amazing, if not of sinister intent, could be that in order for humans to one day break out of this shell of Earth we must create more favorable conditions for traveling within our own solar system. For instance, could humans one day live on Titan? Maybe, but how do we warm it up? We play the part of creator and conduct solar system terraforming on a grand scale by turning Saturn into a small star that supplies Titan with the heat and light it needs to awaken. Turning one of our gas giants, like Saturn, into a star is the essence of the “Lucifer Project.”

“The goal of fusion is in effect, to produce and hold a small star. It is a daunting and tedious research which is considered to be the most advanced in the world.” ²

Star:

A self-luminous, gaseous, celestial body of great mass which produces energy by means of nuclear fusion reactions, whose shape is usually spheroidal, and whose size may be as small as Earth or as large as Earth's orbit.³

“Alea iacta est”. - Caesar
The die has been cast.

The Cassini spacecraft is currently orbiting Saturn, but is likely to be sent into Saturn July of 2008. This report was written with the assumption that NASA will end Cassini's mission the same way they ended Galileo's by plunging it into the planet. The polar orbits that are currently scheduled allow an impact with Saturn on July 7 and approximately every week thereafter. The Cassini project is to be concluded no sooner than July 1. The Cassini Spacecraft is powered by two different means, its thrust propellant, used for trajectory adjustments, and its main power supply for running instruments. The latter is ²³⁸Pu, or Plutonium-238. This ²³⁸Pu is what is known as a radioisotope, or radioactive isotope, which becomes physically hot from its own radioactive decay. This heat is converted into electricity by a thermoelectric converter. At time of takeoff the spacecraft contained more than 72 lbs. of Plutonium-238 dioxide fuel within (216) 1 inch diameter x 1-1/2 inch long cylindrical pellets. Each pellet has about 1/3 lb. of plutonium dioxide fuel, most of which is plutonium-238 and a small amount being oxygen by mass. In addition, there are some minor amounts of ²³⁸Pu for other heater areas. The pellets are divided into three even groups of 72, each group within one RTG (Radioisotope Thermo-electric Generator).⁴

NASA has crashed a plutonium-carrying RTG into a similar atmosphere before which may have resulted in an explosion the size of Earth's diameter near the equator of Jupiter as observed by many and imaged by Olivier Meeckers of Belgium on October 19, 2003. Space.com carried the story “Mystery Spot on Jupiter Baffles Astronomers.”⁵ The craft, Galileo, entered into Jupiter near its equator very close to where the “mystery spot” later developed (Diagram A). It is possible that if the explosion were larger or deeper, Jupiter could have reached ignition. The fact remains that a very suspicious bruise appeared on Jupiter 28 days after Galileo made its plunge there. It is important to mention that it is rare for a comet or meteor to impact Jupiter at the equator so it is unlikely this was the cause.

Saturn, like Jupiter and our Sun, is mostly composed of hydrogen and helium, in various gas, liquid, and metallic forms. The inner core may be composed of a somewhat solid rocky material. The average density of Saturn is only .7 g/cm³ (water is 1.0), but the pressure in the atmosphere and below is very intense. Towards the core of Saturn it is estimated the pressure could be millions of times that of Earth at sea level. Saturn's atmosphere consists of about 97 percent hydrogen and 3 percent helium by volume and about 80/20 by mass.⁶ If Saturn had been 200 times more massive, it might have evolved into a star rather than a planet. Our solar system could have been a binary star system (more easily with Jupiter, of course). Besides hydrogen and helium, small amounts of methane, ammonia, and water vapor, and various hydrocarbons have been detected in Saturn's atmosphere. Saturn has similar relative abundance of hydrogen and helium to the Sun itself. However, its core temperature is too low a value to trigger nuclear fusion.

I propose the magic trigger has been sought after and found! The Trigger

IMPORTANT: The Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL-9) comet event created enormous explosions, but no fissionable material was present to cause a nuclear reaction so the explosion temperatures (at max-7000ºC) were not high enough to cause a fusion reaction.

The plutonium fuel cylinders in the RTG's of Cassini (Diagram B) may act as Implosion Weapons and a fission “trigger” that may result directly in a fusion reaction that may be sustainable. In essence, a gas giant may be turned into a star in this way. A report in September, 2003 by physicist Jacco van der Worp of the Netherlands entitled “Could NASA Use Galileo to Create a Jovian Nagasaki”, states the same concerning Galileo's plutonium at Jupiter:^“Theoretically the avalanche reaction described for the Pu-238 pellets aboard Galileo can take place setting off an implosion-induced nuclear detonation.”⁷ Implosion Weapon: A weapon in which a quantity of fissionable material, less than a critical mass at ordinary pressure, has its volume suddenly reduced by compression, so that it becomes supercritical, producing a nuclear explosion. ⁸

Tom Van Flandern's summary of “Planetary Explosion Mechanisms” states the following:

“Indeed, nuclear fission chain reactions may provide the ignition temperature to set off thermonuclear reactions in stars (analogous to ignition of thermonuclear bombs).”⁹

While ²³⁸Pu is fissionable, it has been advertised as not fissile, or in others words this would mean it can produce a fission reaction that is difficult to sustain, but a 1962 test proved reactor grade plutonium (Pu-238 and Pu-240) to be fissile:

“The Department of Energy is providing additional information related to a 1962 underground nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site that used reactor-grade plutonium in the nuclear explosive.

Specifically:

-A successful test was conducted in 1962, which used reactor-grade plutonium in the nuclear explosive in place of weapon-grade [Pu-239] plutonium. –The yield was less than 20 kilotons.

Background:

This test was conducted to obtain nuclear design information concerning the feasibility of using reactor-grade plutonium as the nuclear explosive material. –The test confirmed that reactor-grade plutonium could be used to make a nuclear explosive. This fact was declassified in July 1977. … In short it would be quite possible for a potential proliferator to make a nuclear explosive from reactor-grade plutonium using a simple design that would be assured of having a yield in the range of one to a few kilotons, and more using an advanced design.” ¹⁰

In addition to this, a study conducted in part by Richard L. Garwin, a former JASON Group member, noted that all plutonium isotopes, even Pu-238 up to 80% purity, must be considered bomb making material. Garwin was involved in this study as well as other JASON Group studies, some of which can be accessed on the web at the references provided at the end of this report. ^{27
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The Nuclear Control Institute (NCI) stated that reactor-grade plutonium could be more desirable for a simple bomb because it eliminates the need to use a neutron initiator.¹¹ Also note the following in a report entitled “Plutonium-238, Use, Origin and Properties”: “If Pu-238 sits in the reactor long enough, it will absorb a neutron and become Pu-239 fuel.”¹²Of course, Pu-239 is very fissile, in fact, it is the key component of most nuclear bombs. Since Cassini was launched in 1997, we know that its Pu-238 will have been sitting in the RTG reactors for more than 10 years by July 2008, maybe longer if the fuel cells were created beforehand. In an analysis of whether the fuel cylinders contain fissionable as well as fissile elements, we have to conclude that it is very possible.

It has already been well demonstrated that a fission reaction can be sufficient to ignite a fusion reaction (i.e. the Hydrogen Bomb). A fission reaction generates high enough temperatures (high enough equals about 35 million degrees Kelvin) to reach the critical point required for a fusion reaction. This, however, does not necessarily mean a fusion reaction will occur. The right elements (various isotopes of hydrogen) must be present or created, so it is assumed. We do know Saturn is mostly composed of the same elements as the Sun, hydrogen and helium, but we are unsure if fusion and fission reactions would work exactly the same on Saturn as on Earth. However, conventional belief says Deuterium and Tritium (isotopes of Hydrogen) are necessary to accomplish fusion. Both are likely present deeper into Saturn. What is important to remember is the tremendous pressures inside Saturn are the key here when talking about implosion.

We do know that implosion is what will occur to the fuel cylinders at some point in the impact. If the final implosion collapse of a cylinder happens suddenly enough, it could simulate an explosive-initiated implosion, the method normally used in a plutonium nuclear bomb. As mentioned earlier there is prior imaged evidence of an explosion from Galileo's plutonium on Jupiter. An analysis by Richard C. Hoagland “Did NASA Accidentally ‘Nuke' Jupiter?” states the same concerning a nuclear reaction on Jupiter:^“It is this unique, dark ‘carbon' signature – appearing as a dark black ‘splotch' in the highest levels of the Jovian cloud belts which has given this entire, incredible scenario away ….”¹³

Cassini is carrying 1.5 times the amount of plutonium dioxide (72 lbs) that Galileo was carrying (48 lbs) and Saturn's mass is 30% of Jupiter's mass. 48 is to 3.333 as 72 is to 1 translates into around 5 times the effective plutonium when the planet's masses are figured in.

The plutonium pellets aboard are protected against unexpected pressures (not Saturn's atmospheric pressures though). The upper crust of Saturn's atmosphere is gaseous hydrogen and helium for about 500 miles in, followed by a more liquid substance of the two, and much further in (about half the radius), a more metallic version (so it is guessed). Cassini would go from 1/2 bar to 5 bars in just a few seconds upon entry into Saturn and then explode and burn up at which point its RTG's, containing the Pu cylinders, will continue on. Eventually the RTG casings will deteriorate but the plutonium pellets will continue on, each having their own little heat shield of iridium and graphite, and start dramatically slowing down as the higher density atmosphere is encountered. It may take several days for the pellets to reach the point at which they implode. All that is required for fission from implosion to occur is for the final collapse of one of the graphite/iridium shells around one plutonium capsule to happen suddenly enough to prevent a fizzle, (a fizzle is a reaction that turns it into a dud). Since there are 216 separate cylinders, there are many chances to achieve a proper implosion and if one proper implosion occurs, it will act as a catalyst for others by showering them with neutrons as all of the cylinders will likely stay within 10's of miles of each other. Each cylinder by itself will eventually reach the pressure point within Saturn to go critical if they are not spoiled somehow by then. The fuel cylinders would travel deep into Saturn, much more than the rest of the craft because they are designed to withstand extremely intense heat and pressure. They were designed this way in order to keep them intact in case of an accident upon launch and subsequent earth-atmosphere re-entry (also Cassini did a couple of Earth swing-bys for acceleration).

Some members of the various agencies involved with Galileo and Cassini surely have considered the potential of a plutonium ignition and there is also evidence to suggest that a reaction is what is secretly hoped for, at least by a few. It was stated by William Cooper, (former United States Naval Intelligence briefing member in the early 70's) that an elite group known as the “JASON Group”, or certain members of, had been hired full time to work on turning Jupiter into a small star. The “JASON Group” is comprised of the greatest science minds in the world.¹⁴ The Richard L. Garwin reports mentioned earlier further prove that the JASON Group does indeed exist.

Saturn is much like Jupiter in composition and is actually a safer and more realistic target. Titan may be the big the big prize, being one of the few bodies in the solar system to potentially contain a significant amount of water and an atmosphere that could be very terraformable. Titan could be thawed out substantially with Saturn as its sun.

Cassini's orbit is scheduled to decay in July of 2008. Similar to Galileo's plunge into Jupiter on September 21 2003, Cassini will most likely be plunged into Saturn with the exception that Cassini will likely go into the polar region of Saturn.¹⁵

In an Saturn ignition Earth would receive a miniscule amount of solar heating from a Saturn star, but brightness could be 100's of times what Saturn is now. Around July/August 2008, the distance is about 10 AU or 1,500,000,000 km from Earth. More importantly though, Earth could receive a nasty shower of hot hydrogen a few weeks later, the real reason for concern.

In summary, most of the cylinders will survive the initial impact with Saturn's upper atmosphere, because they are designed to do that, they have been successfully tested at an impact pressure of 19,600 PSI and higher than that for non-impact pressure.¹⁶ Each cylinder has a heat shield that can withstand temperatures in excess of 6400° F. The notion that Pu-238 cannot be fissile is very much in error, at least when talking about Saturn/Jupiter conditions. I will use Jacco van der Worp's analysis and also remind the reader of the declassified 1962 test mentioned earlier. Pu-238 has a normalized reactivity of 1.1 and a spontaneous fission rate of 3440 neutrons per gram per second. This results in critical mass under normal conditions at 200 grams (this is why the cylinders are kept at 151 grams or 1/3 lb to avoid critical in Cassini). The cylinders will keep falling and may wander apart or stay together when the craft burns up - it doesn't matter much because each cylinder will eventually reach critical on its own when the pressure builds enough in the fall into Saturn. Even if the cylinders wander apart, each one that is still intact will be ignited by a shower of neutrons from any cylinder that ignites. Around ¼ of the plutonium may fission because the surrounding Saturn pressure will maximize the results. With 72 lbs (32.7 kg) of plutonium this is equivalent to a 600 kiloton explosion. In comparison, the Nagasaki explosion used 7 kilograms, 1.2kg of which went into fission and caused a 22 kiloton explosion. This Saturn explosion would create temperatures of around 100,000,000° K because of the high density at the point of detonation. Even the sun's interior is not that hot (only 30,000,000° K). This is way above the threshold for fusion to start. Saturn is similar in content to the sun and the same ingredients can produce the same result: ignition of the entire body of dense hydrogen. ⁷

Regenerating, Recovering, and Creating Atmospheres

Our atmosphere is constantly regenerating to restore itself to the “normal” state. There have been traumatic periods, of course, when the atmosphere was under stress from the outside and from within, but the Earth has always recovered. Although a Saturn barrage could be deadly for a short time on Earth, a full recovery could take place in a matter of months.

“On Earth, geological boundaries are accompanied by mass extinctions at five epochs over the last billion years. Two of the most intense of these, the P/T boundary about 250 Mya, and the K/T boundary (and the extinction of dinosaurs) at 65 Mya, are the most likely to be associated with the damage to Earth's biosphere expected from a major planet explosion.” ⁹

“[On Earth] The ozone layer's condition fluctuates between poor and excellent and the size of the holes measured in the ozone layer also goes up and down. Theoretically, given the appropriate conditions, the ceasing of using fossil fuels as a major supply of energy and fuel and the banning of the use of motor vehicles which do not meet strict emissions standards, the ozone layer would "repair" itself. The hole in the ozone layer, given the right conditions [would] "heal up". It must be noted that natural events such as volcanic eruptions can also have a dramatic impact on the ozone layer. It is even thought that holes in the ozone layer existed long before mankind's industrial revolution.”¹⁹

Titan, however, being at point blank range might require a few years to stabilize and its atmosphere and surface would dramatically change with Saturn as a sun. The dynamics could then exist for Titan's atmosphere to be transformed into a more “earthly” state by getting rid of the conditions that produce the thick smog. Titan could get a kick start going from primordial to recognizably earthlike within a few decades with proper seeding and terraforming supplied by Earth. As this report is being written, data is being interpreted from the Huygens probe on Titan and the first images returned of Titan's surface remind us of earthly coastlines with swampy deltas, although the muddy look may be due to liquid methane or pools of complex hydrocarbons.

“Visible light cannot escape from the veil of orange smog that covers Titan's surface. The moon's dry cold atmosphere causes a 300 km thick layer of smog to build up. The smog, just like on Earth, forms when sunlight interacts with hydrocarbon molecules.”¹⁸

“Titan's atmosphere, a murky mix of nitrogen, methane and argon, resembles Earth's more than 3.8 billion years ago. Scientists think the moon may shed light on how life began. Finding living organisms, however, is a remote possibility. ‘It is not out of the question, but it is certainly not the first place I would look,' said Candice Hansen, a scientist for the Cassini-Huygens mission. ‘It's really very cold'. A lack of sunlight has put Titan into a deep-freeze, hindering chemical reactions needed for organic life.” ¹⁷

“Thus, while many of Earth's familiar geophysical processes occur on Titan, the chemistry involved is quite different. Instead of liquid water, Titan has liquid methane. Instead of silicate rocks, Titan has frozen water ice. Instead of dirt, Titan has hydrocarbon particles settling out of the atmosphere, and instead of lava, Titanian volcanoes spew very cold ice.”²⁶

If the temperature were raised significantly at Titan, it would begin to more closely resemble an early Earth. The liquid methane (CH₄) would turn to methane gas and precipitated carbon, the dirty ice (H₂O) would turn to carbon, water, water vapor, and oxygen, nitrogen and argon are present, and hydrogen would also be very available, of course. Earth's atmosphere is 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, and 1% Argon, Methane, Water Vapor, Carbon dioxide, Hydrogen and several other gases. The evaporated methane previously on the surface of Titan would be replaced by water from melted ice.

Reprint from RINF.com News