This cover of Time Magazine is a fake, however the message is horribly factual.
A deadly disease could be threatening residents living around the Kennedy Space Center. Researchers have found an alarming number of ALS cases, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in neighborhoods near the space center.
Some former NASA workers fear they were exposed to something that may now be killing them.
There are 24 known cases of ALS within a 25 mile radius of the Kennedy Space Center. According to the ALS Association, that rate is about 40 percent higher than the national average.
A spokesperson for the Kennedy Space Center says NASA takes precautions around all toxic substances, and since there is no known cause of the disease, NASA cannot say something at the Space Center is to blame.
A new ALS National Registry approved by congress last year, but not yet funded, will get a more accurate count of how many people around the Kennedy Space Center are fighting the disease and how many have already died from it. The fight for the ALS Registry Act has been six-years in the making, introduced by Rep. Eliot Engel. It has endured two sessions of Congress and held by Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma for a period of six months. Brought to the Senate floor by Sen. Harry Reid and passed without objection and finally signed by President Bush.
ALS usually strikes people between the ages of 40 and 70-years-old. Scientists have not yet nailed down the risk factors. However, two months ago, the Veterans Administration acknowledged military personnel also had a higher risk of contracting ALS.
