Astronauts and otherspaceflight participants have observed their religions while in space; sometimes publicly, sometimes privately. Religious adherence in outer space poses unique challenges and opportunities for practitioners. Space travelers have reported profound changes in the way they view their faith related to theoverview effect,[1] while some secular groups have criticized the use of government spacecraft for religious activities by astronauts.[2]
On Christmas Eve, 1968 astronautsBill Anders,Jim Lovell, andFrank Borman read from theBook of Genesis asApollo 8 orbited the Moon.[3] A lawsuit byAmerican Atheists founderMadalyn Murray O'Hair alleged that the observance amounted to a government endorsement of religion in violation of theFirst Amendment,[4] but the case was dismissed.
Apollo 11 astronautBuzz Aldrin, aPresbyterian, performed acommunion service for himself using a kit provided by his church. Aldrin had told flight directorChris Kraft of his plans and intended to broadcast the service back to Earth but opted not to at the request ofDeke Slayton, due to the continuing controversy over Apollo 8's reading.[5]
A microfilmBible brought to the surface of the Moon by Apollo 14 astronautEd Mitchell was auctioned off in 2011.[6] It was aKing James Version created after three astronauts lost their lives in theApollo 1 fire.[6]Ed White, one of the astronauts who perished, had wanted to take a Bible to the Moon.[6]
On the 2009STS-128 flight to the International Space Station, astronautPatrick Forrester brought a fragment of aMissionary Aviation Fellowship aircraft which had been used by theOperation Auca martyrs in Ecuador in 1956.[7]
Several members of the crew of the Space ShuttleChallenger tragedy missionSTS-51-L were people of faith. Among them were CommanderDick Scobee and PilotMichael J. Smith. Scobee was aBaptist who met his wife June at a church social event. After the tragedy, she would go on to write an article inGuidepost Magazine about how their faith helped her through the tragic time. Smith and his family attended a non-denominational Christian church in a community close to their home near Houston's NASA JSC Space Center.
Rick Husband, the Commander of the ill-fatedSTS-107Columbia tragedy mission, was also a devout Christian. On the last-request forms that astronauts fill out before every flight, he left his pastor a personal note: "Tell them about Jesus; he's real to me." Later his wife Evelyn wrote a book about their life with him as an astronaut and the importance of their Christian faith entitledHigh Calling: The Courageous Life and Faith of Space Shuttle Columbia Commander Rick Husband. Likewise, his STS-107 crewmateMichael P. Anderson was also a devout Christian and when not on a mission for NASA, was an active member of theGrace Community Church choir.
A signed message fromPope Paul VI was included among statements from dozens of other world leaders left on the Moon on a silicon disk during theApollo 11 mission.[8] Following the mission,William Donald Borders, Bishop of theRoman Catholic Diocese of Orlando, told the Pope that the1917 Code of Canon Law placed the Moon within his diocese, as the first explorers had departed from Cape Kennedy which was under his jurisdiction. The claim was neither confirmed nor denied by the Pope, and the Moon is not recognized as part of the diocese in any official capacity.[9][10][11]
Following Buzz Aldrin's communion on the Moon, other astronauts have done the same in Earth orbit. ThreeCatholic astronauts on Space Shuttle missionSTS-59 receivedHoly Communion on 17 April 1994.[12] NASA astronautMichael S. Hopkins took a supply of six consecrated hosts to theInternational Space Station in September 2013, allowing him to receive the Eucharist weekly during his 24-week mission.[13]
In May 2011,Pope Benedict XVI of the Catholic Church talked to the crew of theSpace ShuttleEndeavour while it was in Earth orbit.[14]
In Russia, spaceflight crews are blessed byRussian Orthodox priests before launch, and their Soyuz rockets are also blessed on the launch pad. CosmonautAleksandr Viktorenko initiated the crew blessing tradition when he requested one for the launch ofSoyuz TM-20 in 1994.[15][16]
Russian Orthodox Christmas was celebrated on theInternational Space Station, on January 7, 2011.[17] Cosmonauts had the day off, but one of the other crew posted onTwitter, "Merry Christmas to all Russia."[17] The whole crew also celebrated on December 25, two weeks prior.[17]
Cosmonauts sometimes at the request of Russian Orthodox church carry religious icons to space, which upon return to Earth are distributed to churches.[18]
Muslims in space struggle with fulfilling their religious obligations including kneeling and facing Mecca to pray in microgravity traveling at several kilometres per second. The issue first came up whenSultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, aSaudi prince, flew aboardSTS-51-G and again whenAnousheh Ansari flew as a tourist to theInternational Space Station.[19] In preparation for MalaysianSheikh Muszaphar Shukor's trip to the ISS in 2007, theNational Fatwa Council created "Muslim Obligations in the International Space Station" outlining permissible modifications to rituals such as kneeling when praying (not required in space), facing Mecca (or just Earth)[20] when praying (left to the astronaut's best abilities at the start of prayer), and washing (a wet towel will suffice).[21]
In February 2014, the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment (GAIAE) from Saudi Arabia issued afatwa forbidding devout Muslims from participating as crew members inMars One's proposed one-way mission toMars.[22] Speaking for the clerical group, Farooq Hamada explained that, "Protecting life against all possible dangers and keeping it safe is an issue agreed upon by all religions and is clearly stipulated in verse 4/29 of the Holy Quran: Do not kill yourselves or one another. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful."[23]
Time and date-related observances are important in Judaism, and there have been considerations on theobservance of time by Jewish astronauts.[24]
American astronautJeffrey Hoffman took multiple Jewish objects to space on his space flights from 1985 to 1996: a miniatureTorah scroll, ayad, a Torah breastplate,mezuzot,menorahs, adreidel, hand-woventallit, andkiddush cups.[25][26]
In January 2003, amicrofilm Torah, a handwritten copy of theShabbat kiddush, and a miniature Torah scroll rescued from theBergen-Belsen concentration camp were taken to space by Israeli astronautIlan Ramon aboard theSpace ShuttleColumbia.[14] Ramon and the rest of the crew died when the shuttledisintegrated during reentry. In September 2006, Canadian astronautSteve MacLean took another Torah from Bergen-Belsen aboard theSpace ShuttleAtlantis to the International Space Station as a tribute to Ramon.[27]
In December 2006, American astronautSunita Williams took a copy of theBhagavad Gita to theInternational Space Station. In July 2012, she took there anOm symbol and a copy of theUpanishads.[28] On 27 February 2021,PSLV-C51 carried a digital copy of the Bhagavad Gita into space on anSD card.[29]
The first Buddhist to go into space wasEllison Onizuka flying to space aboardSTS-51-C. Not only was he the first Buddhist but also the first Asian-American, person of Japanese descent and Hawaiian to go to space. He later died during theChallenger Disaster in 1986.[30]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)The cosmonaut tradition, meanwhile, is to take religious icons depicting saints or the holy family on to space stations. As recent research which we conducted in collaboration with the icon scholar Wendy Salmond shows, this is sometimes at the request of the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox church. The returned icons are not sold but distributed to churches.
| Biology |
|  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Environment | ||||||
| Society | ||||||
| Technology |
| |||||
