Since its inception in 1958, NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, a government agency funded by taxpayer dollars, has periodically been caught up in religion-science and church-state separation debates.
Three specific incidents — the Apollo 8 astronauts’ recitation from the Book of Genesis, Apollo 11 astronaut Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin’s taking of Communion on the moon, and Discovery astronaut Patrick Forrester’s tribute to martyred Christian missionaries — highlight the controversies over the place of religion in secular government and the separation of church and state.
Apollo 8 Astronauts' Reading from Book of Genesis
In 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts, Jim Lovell, William Anders, and Frank Borman, became the first humans to orbit the moon. The crew participated in a Christmas Eve television broadcast — the most watched broadcast in history up to that point — during which they each took turns reading from the Old Testament Book of Genesis as the lunar sunrise came into view.
Genesis begins, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”
Madalyn Murray O’Hair filed a lawsuit, O’Hair v. Paine, with the U.S. Supreme Court over the reading from Genesis by the astronauts. O’Hair contended that since the astronauts were U.S. government employees, they should not pray or perform religious rituals while on the job in outer space. The Supreme Court, however, dismissed the case because of lack of jurisdiction.
Apollo 11 Astronaut Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin’s Communion on the Moon
In 1969, Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin took Communion on the moon. Aldrin had wanted to broadcast his self-communion, but NASA decided not to allow this because it was concerned over the spectacle created by the lawsuit O’Hair had brought against the agency.
Before taking communion, Aldrin said, “This is the LM [lunar module] pilot. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way.” News that Aldrin had given himself communion with a kit provided by the Webster Presbyterian Church, in Houston, Texas, did not come out for several years after it happened.
Discovery Astronaut Patrick Forrester’s Honoring of Christian Martyrs
In 2009, on the space shuttle Discovery Patrick Forrester carried a piece from the battery box of an airplane piloted by Christian missionary Nate Saint who went to Ecuador to proselytize. In the mid-1950s, Saint and four other proselytizers were working to convert the Waodani tribal people, but the Waodani killed the missionaries.
NASA allows astronauts to carry a small bag of personal effects into space. It was in this bag that Forrester put the piece of Saint’s plane, which was transported to the International Space Station. Forrester commented, "Bringing attention to and renewing interest in missions would be a great result of this experience."
Should Astronauts Be Allowed to Promote Religious Beliefs in Space?
The Apollo 8 astronauts’ readings from the Book of Genesis, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s taking of Communion on the moon, and Discovery astronaut Patrick Forrester’s carrying of a memento memorializing Christian missionaries have elicited heated debate.
Some people argue that science and religion and church and state should be kept separate and that NASA, a government agency funded by tax money, should not allow astronauts to publicly endorse religion. In any case, since Madalyn Murray O’Hair’s lawsuit against NASA over the Apollo 8 TV broadcast of the astronauts’ readings from Genesis, religion has played a much less prominent role in NASA operations.
Yet the drive for exploration and discovery — the desire to learn from where humans came, where humankind is going, and if humans are alone in the great expanse of outer space — may at its foundation be thought of as spiritual and religious. The resultant questions of how to effectively contain, describe, and deal with the intersection of science and spirituality are at the forefront of humankind’s journey beyond the swirling blue-and-white mass of Earth and into the unknown reaches of space.
Sources:
Apollo 8 Christmas Eve Broadcast, NASA.gov
Mission Aviation Fellowship, MAF.org
"Under God: First Communion on the Moon," Washington Post
Aimee Larsen Stoddard - Aimee is a professional writer/editor. She has a BA in English and is currently completing an MS in Theology.
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