Bogus Gold

I am proud to participate in the blogosphere Thunderjournalsphere's commemoration of a monumental event celebrating it's 21st anniversary today.

It was twenty one years ago today that the space probe Voyager 2 made its closest pass to the planet Uranus. This stunning achievement did more than merely free us from the shameful ignorance that characterized the pre-Uranus era; it also provided hope to a whole generation of astronomers who would never again be stifled by terrestrial methods of observing this great celestial body.

It's likely difficult for younger astronomers to even remember what it was like to study Uranus prior to Voyager 2. Uranus is, after all, 2,870,990,000 km from the Sun. That makes it ducedly hard to study from all the way down her on earth. Those pioneer astronomers tried to soup up their telescopes as much as they could. But still, it was a darker age of Uranus study, not even cognizant of the fact that Uranus possesses rings, or the fact that Uranus' sideways rotation creates a unique effect on its magnetic field observable no where else in the solar system.

But what were those early astronomers to do? Should they attach wire coat hangers to their telescopes to try to get better reception? Heck no! They did something far more laudable. They created a pioneering space vessel and sent it off to clear way our ignorance once and for all.

I for one am proud to be walking in the footsteps of those giants who came before me, bringing the heavens closer to earth. I am proud to blog for Uranus.