Heavens Above
We’ve come a long way from Madalyn Murray O’Hair.She was, you’ll recall, the activist atheist who campaigned against government sanctioning of religion—including NASA astronauts reading from the Book of Genesis during the Apollo 8 mission in 1968.But times have changed. Even Russians are now carryi…
We've come a long way from Madalyn Murray O'Hair.
She was, you'll recall, the activist atheist who campaigned against government sanctioning of religion—including NASA astronauts reading from the Book of Genesis during the Apollo 8 mission in 1968.
But times have changed. Even Russians are now carrying the Gospel to space (on the Soyuz TMA-20, due to launch on December 15), where it will join other religious icons onboard the International Space Station. And recently returned Station commander Doug Wheelock was more willing than most astronauts to mention his faith while in orbit— in messages and photos posted to Twitter and in a video conference with Christian college students in Oklahoma.
So far, no one seems to mind.