There are things we won't recall,
And feelings we'll never find
It's taken so long to see it,
'Cause we never seemed to have the time
There was always something more important to do,
More important to say
But "I love you" wasn't one of those things,
And now it's too late
Do you remember~~~DO YOU REMEMBER; Phil Collins
Incubating for the better part of 5 years, I come to life as The Voyager I spacecraft on September 5, 1977. And as Fate would have it, I have a twin. This twin, Voyager II, came to life earlier, if you can imagine, on August 20, 1977. I don't fully grasp how all of this happened because while the automated-inorganic part of the US Space Program; space probes, in the early Seventies was still basking in the glow of the successes of the manned space program, by the late Seventies a whole different tone had taken place. And in its wake, of which I don't fully understand all this gobble-dee-gook, finances and a budget become an issue.
But for what I, and my twin, is expected to do---timing is everything. We HAD to be launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable planetary alignment that existed for the objectives of viewing Jupiter and Saturn in the late 1970's and early 1980's. From what I am to understand, this alignment takes place once every 150 years.
When I came to life, it was so revealing!! It was like---there was this HOT button, in some control-tower, somewhere in this area called Complex 41, that was pushed. In so doing, all kinds of bells and whistles are going off. In this 'birthing' venture, it wasn't a coming-out-of-the-womb, kind-of-thing. I got catapulted!!! I mean---somebody lit a candle under me, and I was on the roller coaster-ride of my life~~~or at least, so I thought. My alter-ego, at a childhood age, thought he was getting the roller-coaster ride of his life when his dad throttled the sedan he was in, as it was going over the Fuhrmann Blvd overpass. That 'roller-coaster' ride wasn't even close!! Additionally, this catapulting was just the start of a sling-shot effect. By the time I would be working my way to my mileposts out here in the great unknown, I would moving along, and LOVING IT, at 38K; MPH!!! In the meantime, my silly little alter-ego down on earth is looking at his wimpy speedometer with its 'NOT-YET' markings!!
This candle that lit up; what a masterpiece of melding together state-of-the-art rocketry technology. Keep in mind, at birth, I am a 'payload' of 1592 lbs. In terms of an unmanned space probe, from a late Seventies era, I am the Cadillac of this cutting-edge technology. So it is going to take a rocket, with plenty of testosterone, to get myself, and my twin, on this accelerated flight path. What is concocted by NASA is a TITAN IIIE Rocket, with two adjacent Centaur booster rockets coupled alongside.
As I have already mentioned, I am the Cadillac of late-Seventies space-probe technology. The most visible recognition from the 2011-eye is my 3.7meter Dish High-Gain Antenna!! I also have these few antler-type extensions coming from my 'bus'(business) housing that adds to my 'smart' look. I have two planetary radio astronomy and plasma wave antenna. Included is this radioisotope thermoelectric generator as a lower limb, along with a magnetometer boom acting as another limb. My neck is this tower assembly that has a 'head' attached, which includes all kinds of imaging apparatii. My brains; the computer is the leading data-processor of this era. While it is still a 'trade' secret, my transceiver data leads me to believe that I am controlled by a version of the RCA CDP1802 "COSMAC" microprocessor. While such claims are not substantiated by primary references, the CDP1802 was, however, used in the later Galileo spacecraft. Obviously top-shelf!! And I am so excited about this technology. I am going to be storing all of the data that I acquire~~~on Eight-Track-Tapes!! This I KNOW, is going to cutting-edge---for years to come. The basis of my power is the Pu-238(plutonium) isotope. My bi-metallic thermocouples that convert the heat generated, into electricity will degrade over time, so the actual power will decrease. but at this point, nobody is sweating this detail? I, and my twin, are off to see new worlds within Our Solar System!!
When one is young and alive and still so full of vitality and vim-and-vigor, there is just one primary objective that the mind is focused on; getting the job done. And while I can't talk to my twin about this, I am sure this is what is on his mind, too. So off we go, into the wild-blue-yonder; off we go, into the sky!!
My twin's trajectory is designed to take advantage of an unusually convenient alignment of the planets allowing the inclusion of the Uranus and Neptune fly-by in the Twin probe's mission. I was launched thereafter, but on a faster trajectory which enables me to reach Jupiter and Saturn sooner at the cost of not visiting the outer planets. Although Pluto is possible in the trajectory, it will be eventually decided that I should make a close fly-by of the Titan moon while examining Saturn instead, which would preclude a later fly-by of Pluto. I am photographing Jupiter in January 1979. my closest approach to Jupiter is on March 5, 1979, at a distance of about 217,000 miles from the planet's center. Due to the greater photographic resolution allowed by a closer approach, most observations of the moons, rings, magnetic fields, and the radiation belt environment of the Jovian system are made during the 48-hour period that bracketed the closest approach. As I am flying by this miraculous revelation, I finish photographing the Jovian system in April 1979. The most surprising discovery in the Jovian system is the existence of volcanic activity on the moon Io, which has not been observed either from the ground, or by the previously launched brothers, Pioneer 10 or 11.
The gravitational-assist trajectories at Jupiter were successfully carried out by the both of us, and we both went on to visit Saturn and its system of moons and rings. My Saturnian flyby occurred in November 1980, with the closest approach on November 12, 1980, when I came within 77,000 miles of Saturn's cloud-tops. My cameras were able to discern complex structures in the rings of Saturn, and the additional remote sensing instruments studied the atmospheres of Saturn and its giant moon Titan.
My twin did Jupiter on July 9, 1979. It came within 350,000 miles of the planet's cloud tops. He discovered a few rings around Jupiter, as well as volcanic activity on the moon Io, too. His approach to Saturn occurred on August 26, 1981.
While passing behind Saturn, Saturn's upper atmosphere was probed with his radio link to gather information on atmospheric temperature and density profiles.
After the fly-by of Saturn, my twin's camera platform locked up briefly, putting plans to officially extend the mission to Uranus and Neptune in jeopardy. Fortunately, the men behind the curtain at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, were able to fix the problem (caused by an overuse that temporarily depleted its lubricant), and Twin II was given the go-ahead to explore the Uranian system.
While my twin gets to Unranus on January 24, 1986, and Neptune's contact occurs on August 25, 1989, the flight controllers decided to also perform a close fly-by of Neptune's moon, Triton. The gravitational pull of Neptune bends the trajectory of my Twin downward in this permanent path, and if not interfered with, will eventually have him encounter the star Sirius.
During the 1990s, I overtake the slower traveling Pioneer 10, to become the most distant man-made object from Earth!! And now, as I am passing through, studying the boundaries of the Solar System, including the Kuiper belt, the heliopause, the heliosphere, and finally, interstellar space, I am discovering something else as I now have gotten older and a bit tired as I am now running on a dwindling plutonium supply and antiquated micro-processors. I realize~~~how lonely I am.
My twin, bearing south, is now nine billion miles from home and the physics of momentum says that he too is headed for deep space; never to return. And I~~~I am eleven billion miles from Earth, and I too, am headed to this deep unknown. This solitude is so empty. so scary, so final. As my dwindling capacities allow me to explore the cosmos, bursting out of the Solar System to enter deep space, what will become of me? I can't even console, or get consolation from my twin, as we were never equipped to talk to one another. There is such an abyss all around me. The promise of all those lights in the distance~~~are light-years away. In knowing that, the faint glimmer of hope, in the Ophiuchus constellation, fades away.
Will I happenstance upon a space probe from The NETHERWORLDS that will charge my batteries; giving me a Second Chance?? Or will a sophisticated shepherd life-form give me a new-lease on life with some retro-fitting and refurbishing.
My greatest fear is that I will just fade away; that I will just cease to exist. Just become a form of cold hard inert steel, in perpetual motion.
As we Twins are extremely small, compared to the vastness of interstellar space, the probability of a space faring civilization encountering us, is very small. My twin brother and I, will eventually stop emitting any kind of electromagnetic radiation. If we are ever found by an alien species, it will most likely be far in the future as the nearest star on my trajectory will only be reached~~~in 40,000 years.
My existence will only then, come alive, if the life-form can discern The Voyager Golden Records!!!
--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise
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