Twenty-one years ago today, Space Shuttle Discovery launched in what was the first evening blast-off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This mission was not only historic because a female pilot was at the helm, but it was the first shuttle mission that docked with the Russian space station, Mir.
Perhaps one of the reasons we enjoy the benefits of so many technologies is the result of our desire to explore. Objects like our smartphones, digital watches, and calculators are examples of the result technological innovations that we can attribute to the space program.
According to NASA’s website, the skills needed to dock the Space Shuttle to a space station like Mir or the International Space Station (ISS) are similar to the eye-hand coordination that video gamers use.
And, while the training simulator that astronauts use is quite a bit more sophisticated than the video game consoles that your student might use. Docking a vehicle like the Shuttle to a space space station is a precise venture–the pilot’s accuracy must be within 3 inches to insure a safe docking. Can you imagine guiding a 200,000-pound object that’s moving at 17,000 miles per hour towards a seven-story object while orbiting 220 miles above Earth?
As with the study of any science, all praise and honor goes to the Creator. And, while men may or may not acknowledge God’s glory in a particular field of study, His people can be better equipped to give an answer for the hope that’s within them through the study of the sciences.
“We are one, we are human.”
As Space Shuttle Discovery approached Mir, Shuttle Commander James D. Wetherbee said to the cosmonauts aboard the Russian craft, “As we are bringing our spaceships closer together, we are bringing our nations closer together.” Mir Commander, Alexander Viktorenko, replied, “We are one, we are human.”
Isn’t it fascinating that built into each of us is a desire to interact, to innovate?
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