12 June 2007

The Astronaut Prayer

Photo courtesy of Nikon/Scott Andrews


Awesome God, you created the heavens and earth for wonder and purpose. We thank you for the successful launch of Atlantis this morning - and its achieving orbit without incident.

May the Commander of the mission Col. Rick Sturckow, USMC, and his Army, Air Force and civilian crew enjoy your presence and achieve mission accomplishment on the International Space Station.

Bless us in our mission on the troubled avenues of Iraq. May we be faithful, honorable, vigilant, and good neighbors to friendly forces and the law abiding people of Iraq. Grant us similar understanding of our mission’s importance as the astronauts have in orbit above us.

In the name of God who lifts us up. Amen.



The Astronaut Prayer from Marines in Iraq via "Space Angel" Joan Kranz who left this comment on yesterday's post about her Dad and the wounded Veterans at Friday's shuttle launch:

As for me, I was supporting this Shuttle Flight from my desk here at JSC (Johnson Space Center). ...

The Marines in Iraq found out that the Commander for this shuttle crew is a Marine ! so they were watching the launch over in Iraq.

One of the Marine Chaplains wrote an "astronaut prayer" for the astronaut crew, and I forwarded it to the Lead Flight Director of this mission.

They are excited that a Marine is in charge of the Space shuttle crew and in Command up in space!

STS-117 Commander Rick Sturckow trains inside a shuttle simulator at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. Credit: NASA

Sturckow has logged more than 4,790 hours in over 50 different aircraft and flew 41 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm in 1990. Sturckow joined NASA's astronaut ranks in 1994 and has spent about 24 days working in space.

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