ISS and Space Shuttle Discovery

photo by: thebadastronomer

This is what we saw tonight. How cool is that? We went out and watched the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Discovery fly over Kherson tonight. They were almost directly overhead. The ISS passed over first, very bright and moving very quickly. It faded out just to the right of straight overhead. A few seconds later, here came the shuttle, following right behind the ISS. It also faded out in about the same spot.

I've seen so many wonderful things in my life and this is one of them.

It is amazing to me to think of all the people up there right now, flying over the earth at such a high altitude. I remember vividly watching the moon landing and first step on to the moon on television. Now the ISS is there, orbiting the earth every day, growing larger as new parts are added. The shuttle flies semi-regularly up to meet it, unload it's cargo, the astronauts do their assigned jobs, it disconnects from the ISS, follows behind for awhile, and then returns to earth.

Routine, right?
No, not routine at all.
Dangerous. Amazing.

And it has all happened in my lifetime.

In other news tonight, I received a notice in my email that the Hubble Space Telescope has been repaired and is working very well. Here is the article, put out by NASA: Spectacular First Images from the Rejuvenated Hubble Space Telescope , and here are 4 photos (in collage form): I cannot even begin to express in words, spoken or written, how these photos affect me. I am moved almost to tears. My heart leaps with joy at the beauty of what is 'out there.' My heart bows down and worships the Creator of heaven and earth, praising Him for creating all of this for us to enjoy.

Creation tells us so much about God. I am fully aware that creation does not and can not take the place of the written Word of God, the Holy Bible. Yet, as I looked out at the sky tonight, partly covered by clouds, I wondered anew at what a mighty God He is. I look at these photos and see Beauty and know that God loves beauty and creates it not just for us, but for Himself to take pleasure in. There is so much in space that we will never, ever see while living on this earth - but God sees it and He said it was 'good'.

Thank you, Father. Creator, sustainer, lover of my soul!