Thirty times or more blue Terra has swung
'round Sol since Mariner stared doen upon this firefly of a world.
From Earth it is but a sequin "star" - hard to find
behind the fading glow of a marmalade-hued dusk
or a frosted lavender-dawn - but now I rush
towards the Sun a crescent Hermes is revealed.
Before me wheels a world of wonder!
A cosmic cannonball covered in rock and dust,
its crispy-thin crust cratered and cracked,
wracked by meandering rupes,
the Sun's cruel heat beating down on its light-drowned,
pseudo-lunar lands where no man or woman
will ever stand without fear of death by fire and flame...
But safe behind my shining shield I steal a glance
at Mercury's scythe-sharp, sickle blade face.
No trace of detail on that rocky slice just yet;
but soon, soon that seductive slice of silvery light will turn into a glowing orb,
and as it grows before my eyes I'll marvel at new sights
and send their pictures back to you,
waiting in front of your flickering screens to see
what Hermes has been hiding all these years.
Have no fear, it will have been worth the wait...
(by Stuart Atkinson, 2008)
~~~~~
Catatan:
MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) adalah wahana milik NASA yang dikirim ke Merkurius, planet yang paling dekat dengan Matahari. "Kurir" ini diluncurkan awal Agustus 2004 dan saat ini sedang ber-flyby mengintai Merkurius. Dalam mitologi Romawi Merkurius merupakan kurir para dewa. Cocok sekali bukan antara nama dan target misi? Keterangan lebih lengkap mengenai MESSENGER ada di
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/mer_flyby1.htmlImage credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
