Of course, my big fear is that after I'm dead, someone is still going to be using the software that I wrote. And unlike your dad's contribution, that would be a Bad Thing(tm).
But to have hardware still working after that long under those conditions? That's a posthumous Damn Good Thing(tm).
/johnny
Thanks, Guys (Gals?). Dad showed me lots of photos of the development — really incredible stuff. They had to test the RTGs to make sure no plutonium would escape if the rockets failed to make orbit and crashed. They conducted all sorts of real failure tests to attempt to destroy the containers. It was an amazing engineering feat. I sure miss having Dad around to discuss technology. He led some amazing projects, including some really big and important ones he could never tell us kids about! I’ve met military people who know of the project and the only thing they’ll say is the same thing Dad used to say — “You can’t imagine how important this is to national security”