While some might have expected records to be broken on the day of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament, they might not have anticipated it being accomplished beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. But on Monday (April 6), astronauts aboard Artemis II made history by surpassing the distance record set in 1972 by Apollo 13 — and they did this while beginning a lunar flyby, the Associated Press and other news outlets reported.
Reportedly traveling more than 250,000 miles from Earth, the four-person crew was able to observe the moon’s far side. Some of these areas reportedly have never before been seen by human eyes, news outlets around the world reported. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen called the view “unbelievable.” The milestone mission marks NASA’s return to lunar exploration — and sets the stage for future moon landings.
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More than machinery, science
Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, spoke about the mission April 2 on his podcast, The Briefing.
“The amazement is not ultimately about the machinery, the science, the computing power, the patriotism or anything else,” he marveled. “For Christians, this comes back to looking at the entire cosmos and recognizing God made this for His glory. Every single adamant molecule testifies of the Creator’s glory.
“The predictable patterns upon which this entire enterprise depends, that is all because of God’s action, of God’s creative glory, and it is all a testimony to God’s own eternal attributes. It’s amazing. Christians look at this, [and] we are no less buzzed about this than the rest of the world. Maybe even more so because we see it even in theological terms that doesn’t subtract from it. It infinitely adds to it.”
See related links:
Astronauts Begin Journey to the Dark Side of the Moon: The Amazing Artemis II Launch Yesterday -Albert Mohler’s The Briefing
Artemis II kicks off trip around the moon after surpassing Apollo 13’s distance record -Associated Press
Artemis II live updates as crew breaks Apollo 13 distance record, begins moon flyby – CBS
Artemis II live updates: Crew breaks record in moon flyby -USA Today
Artemis II astronauts conduct a seven-hour flyby of the moon -CNN
Artemis II crew nears ‘epic lunar flyby,’ set to push deeper into space than any human before -Fox News
The links above are a sampling of headlines related to the story and are not an endorsement of all viewpoints or reporting.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was compiled from various news reports by The Baptist Paper.
