NASA's Juno spacecraft is fast approaching Jupiter - good luck!


Postcard from Jupiter ( well nearly)

It's been five years since
I left the pull of Earth,
Shuddering forth
Past our comical moon,
Past red-eyed Mars,
In the starsteps of Voyager 1.
In the five years away from home
I've kept myself in good shape,
Surfing most days, dodging
The odd rogue rock and
Debris from forgotten missions.
I've slept a lot too,
Conserving mind and body
For the holiday of a lifetime.
And now I can see it, wowee,
I knew it was big, but it's
Out of this world, the size...
What did the briefing say?
11 times the diameter of the Earth,
318 times its mass... massive, man.
Enough awe for now, I must concentrate,
Focus on the job at hand: survival.

By Jove, I'm getting closer to the
Gaseous giant - Jupiter here I come!
What did control say before I left?
Be careful of the gas clouds, yes;
Be careful of the magnetic fields, yes;
Be careful of the electrical storms, yes;
All these features are lethal to humankind,
But you are made of metal and microchips,
Don't worry, you'll be fine, and besides
You'll go down, sorry, be remembered
In space exploration history. See ya!

Well, here goes, one final push,
And if I fail, at least I'll be become part
Of the Jovian landscape, a new ingredient
In its ocean of metallic hydrogen.

Bye for now...







Poetry by Christopher Fernie The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 673 times
Written on 2016-07-04 at 11:31

dott Save as a bookmark (requires login)
dott Write a comment (requires login)
dott Send as email (requires login)
dott Print text


Jamsbo Rockda The PoetBay support member heart!
Well done. It broke the record for the fastest space vehicle ever by Jove (nice one).
2016-07-10


one trick pony The PoetBay support member heart!
You sound like a smart guy, mechanically inclined, with wit and vision. Perhaps, in the end, you will find a way back—re-jigger thrusters and components and etc. In any case, good luck and have fun. Don't forget to take off the lens cap.
2016-07-04