PASADENA (The Thursday Times) — Zameen se rawana hone ke taqreeban 50 saal baad, NASA ka Voyager 1 ghar se aik light-day ke faasle par pahunchne wala pehla khalai jahaz banne wala hai, yeh faasla itna bara hai ke wahan radio signal ko pahunchne mein poore 24 ghante lagenge.
Yeh probe, jise 1977 mein launch kiya gaya tha aur jo ab interstellar space mein hai, 18 November ko zameen se 25 arab 89 crore kilometre ke faasle par pahunch jaye ga, aur woh taqreeban 61,000 kilometre fi ghanta ki raftar se safar kar raha hai. Yeh pehle hi kisi bhi doosri insan ki bani hui cheez se zyada door hai.
"Agar aap Voyager ko 'hello' kehna chahte hain, toh aap apna paigham bhejte hain aur phir ghar ja kar do din intezar karte hain, tab aakhir aap ko jawab milta hai," NASA ki Jet Propulsion Laboratory ki project manager Suzanne Dodd ne kaha.
Is line ko paar karne se jahaz par kuch bhi nahin badlega. Lekin yeh sang-e-meel mission ke liye aik fikr-angez mauqe par aa raha hai.
NASA ka Deep Space Network 18 aur 19 October ko 24 ghante ke wafe se ki gayi do koshishon mein Voyager 1 ka signal pakarne mein nakam raha. Signal 20 October ko wapas aa gaya. Engineers ne dekha ke thrusters ka aik set kaam karna band kar chuka tha aur khalai jahaz ne khud ko apne backups par muntaqil kar liya tha, aur unhein abhi tak maloom nahin ke aisa kyun hua.
"Yeh pehli baar hai ke hum ne khalai jahaz ko is tarah ka kuch karte dekha hai, lekin hum mission ke aise marhale par bhi hain jahan hamein ghair mutawaqqa ki tawaqqo rakhni parti hai," mission manager Kareem Badaruddin ne kaha.
Taweel muddat ke liye zyada bari fikr bijli ki hai. Har Voyager plutonium ke zawal se paida hone wali hararat par chalta hai aur har saal taqreeban 4 watt kho deta hai. September mein engineers ne kai maheenon tak jari rehne wala aik operation mukammal kiya, jise "Big Bang" ka lakab diya gaya tha, jis mein khalai jahaz ko garm rakhne mein madad dene wale teen devices ko aise devices se badla gaya jo kam bijli istemal karte hain. NASA ne kaha ke is ke baghair Voyager 1 ke aik aur instrument ko agli garmiyon mein hi band karna par sakta tha.
Donon Voyager hi woh wahid khalai jahaz hain jinhon ne us ilaqe ka seedhe taur par mutalea kiya hai jo zarron aur maqnatisi maidanon ke us bulbule se pare hai jo Sooraj apne gird phoonkta hai, aur is waqt koi doosra mission yeh paimaishein nahin le sakta.
