Program Review: The US Space Missions
Hi everyone, we’re continuing with our science thread for our program reviews. There are many great Christian science programs out there that teach us about the universe, while giving our Creator the glory. It truly is a joy to watch them to learn about God’s creation and worship Him, for His works and character. So please join me as I review the program about the US Space Missions, produced by Kyle Justice and Joel Thomas from Awesome Sci TV.
The US space missions are mentioned in the later episodes of The Heavens Declare, another program produced by Awesome Science Media. I was reminded of how little I knew about the earlier missions.
The US Space Missions program gives a great overview of the dates, motivation and results behind each mission.
The presenter, Joel Thomas, gives information about the creation and purpose of NASA. He outlines details for each project: Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Shuttle, providing interesting facts about their names, how the programs were built up and their testing routines.
Joel talks a bit about the first man to orbit the planet, Mercury’s mission plan, its accomplishments and completed goals upon project completion. We get to hear about how Russia and America created a cold war and President John F Kennedy’s ambitious plan for the space program.
Gemini’s missions, its challenges, disadvantages and accomplishments are covered, including the loss of life in the testing for the Gemini 9 launch (that resulted in the death of its testing pilots). Joel also mentions the last Gemini mission, Gemini 12 - its launch, accomplishments and how it bridged the gap to accomplish a flight to the moon.
When Joel started to talk about the Apollo program, things started to sound familiar to me, but still, I had no idea that as many as 7 of Apollo’s 11 flights were successful moon landings!
The Apollo 1 disaster and the death of the three astronauts, who were testing in the space craft, just before launch, was mentioned. The tragic accident was tied to the negative aspects of the space race. I admire how Joel candidly pointed out that the space program was moving too fast and how short cuts were taken in order to be the first country to land a man on the moon. It was put into the correct context - human life is worth more than being first in a race based on personal and national pride. Something had to be done and Joel describes the measures NASA took to prevent further loss of life.
Then we come to what is my favourite part of the program. Joel speaks about the astronauts who were men of deep faith. He played the recording of the Apollo 8 astronauts, reading the first 10 verses of the creation account from Genesis 1, while orbiting the earth, on 24th December 1968. Then he described how Buzz Aldrin asked for radio silence as he took communion on the moon, on 16th July 1969 - during the first lunar landing. What a wonderful way to worship the Creator and be thankful for His grace for all things created and accomplished.
I had no idea that by 1972, 12 astronauts had walked or driven on the moon.
Joel gives detail about some other disasters that were to come: Challenger in 1986, when 7 astronauts lost their lives, a short time after it launched and the Columbia in 2003, when again, 7 astronauts lost their lives, but this time, upon reentry. I remember these tragic events in the news, but there was lots to learn about what went wrong, what could have been avoided and what measures NASA took afterwards.
I like how Joel ends the program with information about how the Hubble telescope shows us, through its images, how big the universe is, how powerful our Creator is and how beautiful His works are.
Praise the Lord!
I’d like to end this review with the first 10 verses of Genesis 1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
Thank you for reading this review. Until next time - peace be with you.
Film Source and thumbnail: www.awesomescitv.com
