Not long after that, I remember him telling me about these new missions from NASA called Pioneers 10 & 11, which would be followed by the 2 Voyager spacecraft in 1977. A year after the Pioneers left, he gave me this book:
He had his name and the year he got it written on the inside of the cover, so of course I had to do the same. My handwriting has since improved
His father had given it to him when he was 14, and he gave it to me when I was 9. It was published in 1944. Of course, a lot of the info in it is somewhat dated now, but I read that book so many times...
The Pioneers both left, and made it through the asteroid belt unscathed. The pictures returned weren't the best, but it gave humanity a glimpse into the outer solar system for the first time. It was also discovered that Jupiter emitted way more radiation than previously thought, so the Voyagers were "beefed up" to handle it.
Voyager 2 was launched first, on August 20, 1977. My dad and I were so excited. Voyager 1 was launched on September 5, 1977. My dad did not hear about this, and I have no memory of it.
He died around August 28th; though that's a best guess. The causes of his death were not natural; I'll leave it at that. He was 41 and I was 11.
Life continued for myself and the Voyagers. They made their fly-bys and discoveries; I read about them in National Geographic and Scientific American, and always thought how much he would have enjoyed it all.
Now they're both in interstellar space, and I'm a co-admin on the best astronomy forum on the net, and with more telescopes than one person should own. I think he'd be proud of all of it.
About 25 years ago I had a small tattoo done on my back of the Voyager spacecraft with his name underneath. It wasn't overly well done and has since faded. Time for a new one.
After much searching, I finally settled on a place. I went in for a consultation last Saturday, and was there for an hour. I showed them what I wanted, and today it came to life and was better than I had hoped for!
The place is Big Daddys House in the Scarborough area of Toronto.
The artists name is Dolly, and she was absolutely great. As well the staff; I was asked three times if I'd like a drink, am I comfortable, etc. Very friendly atmosphere, and Dolly and I talked quite a bit. It took an hour and a half. She needed a break when I told her the circumstances surrounding my father's passing; poor girl had to cry it out a bit. The part of my arm in front of my elbow felt a bit of pain as the magnetometer was inked over it, but that was only a few minutes. She copied his name from my book, and put the years he lived below that. It even looks like his handwriting.
And the spacecraft? The detail is amazing! I requested some blue, and she even put shading on the antenna dish. It was only $250, and I gave her a $50 tip. Worth every penny, I love it!!
So here's to you, Dad:
It's been a week, and hearing about Marshall yesterday kind of rocked my world. I'm gonna have a couple beers and maybe watch a documentary. I'll also have to get used to sleeping on my right side for a week....
Take care and have a good day/night all,
Member of the RASC
Thanks for the reply and stay well.