"What Hath God Wrought?"
—Samuel Morse—
"People came from all around the world to see what will either be a great rocket launch or the best fireworks display they've ever seen."
—Elon Musk—
I'll admit to being an emotional person.
Even so, I was surprised yesterday as I watched the first SpaceX Falcon Heavy test flight, and found myself crying.
Why would I have such an emotional reaction to a test flight?
Falcon Heavy: First Test Launch
Image courtesy of SpaceX and http://unsplash.com
"The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." - Psalm 19:1
As a lover of science fiction since early childhood, and as an amateur astronomer, when I look into the heavens, I see the glory of God. I see an unimaginably vast universe created by the hand of Jesus, the same God who created you and me.
By NASA/JPL-Caltech (NASA) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons (click for larger image)
I long to go out there and see it all,
to explore the nooks and crannies of the lava tubes on the Moon and on Mars.
I long to stand on a planet circling a star near the center of a globular cluster, multi-colored stars filling the sky at all hours of the day and night. I long to travel to the Magellanic Clouds and look back at the Milky Way.
Pioneers like Elon Musk and companies like SpaceX are, little by little, bringing the day closer when I may be able to do those things. Musk and a few other "movers and shakers" are opening up the space frontier on our behalf. My prayer is only that one day, they too might open their eyes and recognize the God who created it all.
The Falcon Heavy side booster landing was epochal.
Rarely have I seen a display of technology with such inherent beauty. Musk himself apparently had a similar reaction. He said:
"Those two side boosters—if you guys were here, you saw the landing. I was happy 'cause that was probably the most exciting thing I've ever seen—literally ever..."
Please take a couple of minutes to experience it yourself (click image below).
Falcon Heavy Twin Booster Landing—Courtesy of SpaceX and YouTube
As the landing progressed,
it became possible to see that, although the views from each of the boosters initially seemed to be identical, they actually came from two distinct viewpoints.
The crowning sight was to see the two boosters slowly descend, side by side, to a perfect landing. This is the embodied realization of the science fiction vision of my childhood and youth. Real, live rockets, capable of taking men—and more specifically, this man—into space, to explore, learn, and perhaps one day, live.
What hath God wrought, indeed.
~FIN~
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hello @creatr,
how are you, it's a great rocket launch video, landing style is very nice, I saw the first time, always I like you, your think and idea excellent always, thank you for everything
resteem done
Thanks, and thank you for the re-steem.
you are most welcome my dear
Your post and your desire to explore out into the far reaches of the creation is one I too share (apparently also a love for Sci-Fi!) Your reaction reminds me of the tears I shed when I encountered the closing scenes of CS Lewis' The Last Battle when it describes people running on and on to explore and search the "far country." In so many ways space and its vast expanses are our living metaphor for the near endless possibilities we have to explore how vast and creative God truly is. I too long to go "out there" and what's really fun is that we have a PROMISE that says that someday we will go there and so much farther!
WEEE (I mean come on how can one not squeal at least a little bit at this right????)
~Eric
SQUEEEEEEE!!!*
Yeah, man, Hallelujah! Thanks to our Daddy, we'll get to do it all...
I could point you to lots of my other writing in which I celebrate this truth that completely resonates within me.... But I'll start with just one today:
I Will Write The Stories, Celebrating...
And, yes, I love Lewis's description of "further up and further in." YES!
We are joint heirs of the entire, frickin' UNIVERSE!!! How COOL is that! :) :) :)
I'll be watching for you in Discord... ;)
Nay, brother.... the LITERALLY ENDLESS possibilities... I can't wait. ;)
Thanks for your very responsive response. ;)
😄😇😄
You two!!! Lolol I'm sitting here smiling reading your comments cuz it's like youre running to each other's house to show off and share your latest toy!!! Lololol contagious :)
I giggled when @acronym responded on your post. Anyway, the launch also brought me to tears. On another note, it reminded me of the Challenger which had the opposite fate. It was a tear-jerking event that I wished i did not watch and read online.
So true about Challenger. That was a very sad day that I remember all too well.
I'd never seen @acronym before now; I have no idea where it got "H2" in my article?
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Hi dear,
Nice post, nice experience, Falcon rocket landing video was amazing, day to day science rising, I like your post, thank you
Upvote and resteem done
Thank you.
There are those moments that take ones breath away, and that was one, wow.
I am in complete agreement to travel the galaxies with you, my friend. Why else would The Lord create such vastness if not to be explored? ;)
My friend, I invite you to perhaps begin that adventure with a stay at the inn that my friend Justin and I have already discussed building on a planet that orbits a star system of five suns... two binaries and a fifth, somewhat larger star... ;)
Why else, indeed? What a kind gift to us, his very, very curious children... :D
Oh, I am in! That Steem transfer won’t take long either. ;)
I watched it too it was fantastic!
Glad you saw it as well. It was a real delight. I want to ride on one... :D
I would have been emotional too if I had seen it.
Hope you are well. I'm going to the beach this weekend and will try to take some beach shots to share with you :)
Thanks, @lakshmi. :D
Enjoy the beach! ;)
I enjoyed the beach. Below is your photo and you can read the haiku the trip to the beach inspires here:
Link to my post
Photo by me. Right click for larger image.
Thank you, @lakshmi!
It looks like it was a lovely day, and there were others enjoying the beach as well.
I will!
a very inspiring launch - wished it were a DeLorean :)
Hahahaha! Back to the future, indeed...
Tesla is the new, successful DeLorean... ;)
For some reason, I was more impressed that the boosters landed....I mean the rockets was amazing too. I wondered why NASA doesn't have this kind of equipment as well.
Do you know I came to the Lord on the day the Challenger blew up in the sky? 1986 on that day.
I giggled at your enthusiasm, not because it's funny but bc you are so full of joy.
NASA is a government organization. Government, by design, has perverse incentives that do not allow for developing anything of high value at low cost.
I'm imagining being there to hear you giggle, and then giving you a big ol' hug. :D
Yep, I am a child at heart. And I love that old hymn. What joy, indeed! :D
Very interesting day to be saved. I can only imagine. Maybe you'll write the story sometime? ;)
I could....I never thought to share something on here. I'll have to give it thought because it's a long dark twist pre life story. It involves the occult, psychics, and things of that nature that I have to be careful about sharing lest some be too interested in demonic tales.
I shared one story on your friend's post a while ago. But that was a story. Telling my I was found story is different. I'll give it much thot.
Yes...I am a giggler. Sometimes inappropriate nervous giggler....always will have that little girl in me and I'm okay with it. And I would love a hug. :) See children at heart make good friends.
Ah, I'm sure that with all the mad writing skills in your own hand and in your household, you can write the story without presenting undue temptation to others. Please alert me when you do?
Hugs! :D Perhaps one day we'll go outside and play together, my fellow child... ;)
That was spectacular!!!! It was so elegant how they came down!!! And I know how emotional you must have been!!!! Hehehe your flying house is one step closer, my friend 😊
This was a fact of world trancendencia, all the Argentine media devoted great part of their time to this transmission.
Thank you very much dear friend @creatr for sharing all this material
I wish you a prosperous week
Thanks! Glad to hear that Argentina is interested in SpaceX. :D
I have reconciled myself to the fact that I will never get to explore space in the way I have dreamed about since I first discovered Star Trek and Science Fiction as a child. But, I console myself with the thought that my 4 year-old may get to explore in new and exciting ways that I've never considered! I was watching yesterday and cheered along with the SpaceX team as every milestone was reached along the launch process!
Greetings, @mwoodall,
Thanks for stopping by and for your poignant comment.
As I approach 70, I have less prospects, realistically, to enjoy space travel in this lifetime. However, as a strong believer in Jesus as God, I rely on his promise of a literal, physical, eternal life. Based on that, I look forward to exploring the entire universe one of these days.
I sincerely hope that your 4-year old does get to explore, and even that you will personally be surprised and have some of those opportunities yourself. And, if even the remote possibility of what I've said about my personal confidence intrigues you, I invite you to scroll down through my blog and read some of my other posts on the topic.
Thanks again for your visit and thoughtful remarks! :D
😄😇😄
Also a fan of sci fi and amatuer astronomer here, I can relate. I watched in awe and felt a rare feeling of wonder inside, realizing I was witnessing a monumental moment in history. I can't imagine the feats that will be accomplished in space exploration during my lifetime and yesterday was witnessing the first step becoming reality.
Also, how do you not prove you're the biggest bad ass in the world when you decide to use your personal roadster as the payload to send into Mars orbit?
However, when our accomplishments are compared to the vastness, complexity, and wonders of the universe it certainly does bring glory to God. We're so small and know so little in the scope of everything.
Yeah, the payload Musk chose in lieu of concrete weights really made me smile. I love that sort of oddball sense of humor! Very entertaining and inspiring.
Yes, we are relatively small... Even so, we are made in God's image, and thus capable of amazing things!
Thanks for your very thoughtful response. ;)
Hello, only way I can message you now as steem chat has gone. I have hunted for the distilled water having to order from ebay, got a couple of bottles coming, will set up as soon as they arrive :)
Hi, Karen,
Wow, I had no idea you'd have such trouble getting distilled water!
Please let me know how it goes. ;)
I haven't a clue why.
Got everything else ready just waiting for the water:)
I will let you know asap :)
amazing....resteemit done dear...
Thank you for the re-steem.
This is the great post dear......resteemit done
Thank you for the re-steem.
most welcome...
nice of all
resteemited
Thank you for the re-steem.
welcome dear carry on
Amen to that!
That's the first I saw this and am just speechless. I too have been reading SF for some 40 odd years and this was just beyond words. Like being catapulted into the future, except here I am seeing it right now. Right now IS the future.
Yes indeed. It was a breathtaking event. I want to go up. ;)
As do I.
I get it. There are things in life that can bring tears to our eyes. Musicals do it for me. The space adventures take us back to the Kennedy years when we were going to be winners in space. There is also a spiritual element of seeing the heavens and being closer to God. Thanks my friend @creatr for sharing this sentiment with us.
Was up seeing it myself and simply couldn't go back to sleep for hours afterward as I was still too hyped :D
An amazing accomplishment!
Yes, absolutely fantastic! Exciting!
Thanks for commenting.
resteemit
Thank you for the re-steem.
welcome dear
I have to say watching those two come down together was most spectacular! Almost hard to believe and what an accomplishment! I guess this shows private industry is an alternative to the Feds.
Pretty much anything is a preferable alternative to the feds... ;)
Hi, I found some acronyms/abbreviations in this post. This is how they expand:
very good article sir
SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.
great activity dear
carry on
resteemit