We saw the blindingly bright light first as the shuttle began to lift. Then we heard, no, felt the earth-shaking rumble and roar of the engines. We weren’t allowed to be near the pad, but we were as close as civilians could get about a mile away (that’s just a guess). A marsh lay in between us and the shuttle, giving us an unobstructed view of launchpad 39A.
It was July 8, 1994. I was 15 years old when I saw one of the most incredible sights of my life. The space shuttle Columbia embarked on a two-week mission to conduct numerous science experiments for teams of hundreds of scientists from several nations. They carried plants, newts, jellyfish, and more in an effort to better understand space biology, especially the effects of microgravity and cosmic radiation on living things. Its research was one of many missions that helped prepare humans to collaborate on the building and occupying of the International Space Station (ISS), a low orbit station that has now been occupied by a relay of astronauts for a few months shy of 20 years.
What drives our human fascination with space, I wonder? I myself am captivated by thoughts of space, and I have been since as long as I can remember, or at least since the time my parents first took us to places like the Planetarium in Milwaukee which was near us (or was it Chicago?), or the far away Kennedy Space Center to see old rockets and the history of the moon landing.
Do we have this drive because of our innate human desire to discover this Creation?—the same thing that moved humans to sail across the ocean, or build submarines to explore the deep sea trenches, or grab the climbing gear and set out for the top of Everest?
And why space, since we still have more discovery of our own planet to do? Is it the sheer vastness of space? The dark void dotted with billions of gargantuan spheres of burning light? The enormity of the abyss? The mystery of its incomprehensible nature?
It seems we humans are creatures who ponder how very, very small we are indeed, and then aspire to connect with that which is far beyond us. Space. Time. The ocean depths. And God.
It doesn’t come without risks. The shuttle that I saw launch successfully with my own eyes would years later break apart, its crew of 7 instantly lost. It wasn’t on the way up—that was Challenger in 1986—but it disintegrated on the way down in 2003. A sad day for the families. A sad day for America.
After numerous mission successes, it was a reminder that we who like to play in the cosmos are still flesh, blood, and bone. Mortal. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
“By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” – Genesis 3:19
The shuttle program was discontinued in 2011. And although we still have sent astronauts to the ISS, it has only been on Russian rockets, not from US soil.
Many space enthusiasts can relate to Cooper in the movie Interstellar (which is currently my favorite movie). A former astronaut turned farmer, he struggled to cope with his unfulfilled drive to explore the heavens. He complained: “We used to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the stars, now we just look down and worry about our place in the dirt.”
But we humans belong in the dirt. God fashioned the first man out of dirt and breathed into him the breath of life. And the first woman was made from man’s side. And though God made us for perfection and immortality, we humans fell. And now, because of sin, we who came from dirt are destined to return to dust.
We cannot attain the infinite. Fortunately, eternity has come to us. Heaven and Earth came together in the God-man Jesus Christ. A man of flesh, blood, and bone, and yet a man from heaven! He suffered death on the cross and rose triumphant over the grave, delivering the gift of life to all who believe in him, that we might be like him.
“The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” (1 Cor. 15:47-49)
Tomorrow (Wednesday, May 27) I will be watching intently as we, for the first time in about a decade, send astronauts up to the ISS from American soil. It’s the first time a commercial company (SpaceX) will send a crewed capsule in partnership with NASA. SpaceX is an amazing company that I have followed with interest for a few years. I am fascinated by their work and excited for their successes as we humans continue to explore the cosmos, aim again for the Moon, and have our sights set on Mars.
I am excited for tomorrow’s launch (weather permitting). I will be praying for success as the Falcon 9 rocket, with the crewed Dragon capsule on top, blasts off from launchpad 39A. I’ll pray especially for the brave astronauts who are the test pilots on the mission: Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. It is monumental achievement already that we are at this point. It will be amazing if this became the norm. What an incredible feat of human accomplishment it would be if we could have a city on the Moon someday, or a base on Mars! My imagination is always stirred when we humans work toward reaching the stars.
I hope I can take my boys to Kennedy Space Center someday. I hope they can see a rocket launch with their own eyes like I did. I hope they are always filled with wonder concerning God’s enormous creation, and are inspired to collaborate with other humans on big dreams, worthy projects, and work (even mundane work) that blesses the community.
But ultimately, I want them and everyone to know that we humans won’t find the immortality and eternity we seek on the Moon or on Mars. Rather, it is found in him who descended to us from the heavens, and who, after conquering death, ascended to the heavens, and who promises to raise and glorify us to be like him.
Like Cooper, do you ever wonder about your place in the stars?
“Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subdue all things to Himself.” – Liturgical text
“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” – Matthew 13:43
truth + love
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