Far beyond the planets, more than 15 billion miles from home, Voyager 1 still sails through the cosmic dark - lone messenger from 1977.
Launched when disco ruled the radio, it carries less memory than a single smartphone photo, stores data on an 8-track tape system and runs on FORTRAN code written before most of today's engineers were born.
Its endurance comes from tough, radiation-hardened parts, a minimalist design with fewer failure points and redundant systems ready to take over when one falters. The spacecraft also holds the famous Golden Record a time capsule of Earth's music, greetings and sounds meant for any distant civilization that might find it.
Keeping it alive isn't easy : every signal takes 22 hours to arrive, so engineers must solve problems without instant feedback, often referencing 50-year-old blueprints and hand-drawn schematics.
Voyager 1 isn't just a machine. It is a reminder of what happens when we build for durability, think creatively and dream beyond our own lifetimes.
My take
48 years after it had lifted off from the earth, the spacecraft is a grim reminder of what "galloping technology" is all about. (I was a seagoing cadet on board the old INS Delhi - ex-HMS Achilles - during Spring '77 and a Midshipman on board the old INS Beas during Autumn '77!)
PS.
Today's also the 80th anniversary of the mammoth conference organised by PN Panicker, at Ambalappuzha on 14 Sep 1945, where the then Dewan of Travancore, Sir CP Ramaswami Iyer inaugurated the "Thiruvithaankoor Grandhasaala Sangham", with 47 rural libraries.
Tailpiece.
Got up at 5, sent all my morning messages, switched on the hymns on the home theatre, lit up the puja room lamp and opened up the house for the day.
Made our morning cuppa' and fed the cats.
Walked within the house and recited my prayers. Had a nap between 12 and 1 PM and felt guilty about it.
A quiet evening!
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