Tuesday, August 20, 2013

An Epic Voyage

In ’77, when dreaming of space
George Lucas excited the whole human race
But cruising to planets was fiction, I fear
The real thing began late in August that year

On this day the Voyager 2 probe set out
On a grand tour, taking a perilous route
Through the inky black sky that was darker than coal
It took it two years just to reach it’s first goal

But oh, what a view as it quickly sped by
Past Jupiter, staring, with one great red eye
The storms below raging, the moons made of ice
The volcanoes on Io were not very nice

Then back to the black for another two years
Till Saturn in all of it’s glory appears
Those magnificent rings capture everyone’s gaze
While the smoggy moon Titan huddles in its own haze

Five years to Uranus, spinning round on its side
A pretty pale blue like an egg that’s been dyed
Three more years to Neptune, so windy and cold
The fastest winds anywhere, so I’ve been told

And then that small probe kept on going, and how!
It’s been 36 years and it’s still going now
Pushing out through the edge of the heliosphere
Take our dreams to the stars as you yet persevere

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