{"id":1677,"date":"2011-05-24T09:38:23","date_gmt":"2011-05-24T14:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hoodedhawk.com\/blog\/?p=1677"},"modified":"2011-05-24T09:52:15","modified_gmt":"2011-05-24T14:52:15","slug":"pope-speaks-with-space-station-astronauts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hoodedhawk.com\/blog\/pope-speaks-with-space-station-astronauts\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Speaks with Space Station Astronauts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pope<\/a>
\nFrom the Vatican Information service<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\nPOPE SPEAKS WITH SPACE STATION ASTRONAUTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nVATICAN CITY, 21 MAY 2011 (VIS) – This Saturday, Benedict XVI held a
\nconversation with the group of cosmonauts and astronauts aboard the
\nInternational Space Station, on the occasion of the space shuttle
\nEndeavour’s last mission.<\/p>\n

\n From a room in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace the Pope could see the
\nastronauts on a television screen while they could only hear his voice on an
\naudio channel.<\/p>\n

During the conversation, the Holy Father asked the astronauts five
\nquestions. The first: “When you are contemplating the Earth from up there,
\ndo you ever wonder about the way nations and people live together down here,
\nor about how science can contribute to the cause of peace?”.<\/p>\n

\"Mark<\/a>
\nUnited States astronaut Mark Kelly answered that, from space, you cannot
\nsee the borders between the nations, but “we realize that people fight with
\neach other and there is a lot of violence in this world … The science and
\nthe technology that we put into the Space Station to develop a solar power
\ncapability, gives us pretty much an unlimited amount of energy. And if those
\ntechnologies could be adapted more on Earth, we could possibly reduce some
\nof that violence”.<\/p>\n

\n While emphasizing “the responsibility we all have towards the future of
\nour planet”, the Pope asked how the astronauts see Earth’s situation from
\ntheir “extraordinary observation point?”.<\/p>\n

\n\"International<\/a>
\n United States astronaut Ron Garan answered that, “we can see how
\nindescribably beautiful the planet that we have been given is; but on the
\nother hand, we can really clearly see how fragile it is”.<\/p>\n

\n Benedict XVI asked if, “in the midst of your intense work and research”,
\nthe astronauts ever stop and reflect on the mystery of creation – perhaps
\neven to say a prayer to the Creator? The Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori,
\nwho before leaving for space had received a medal from Benedict XVI
\nrepresenting the Creation of Man as painted by Michelangelo on the Sistine
\nChapel ceiling, responded. On seeing the beauty of the planet, he said, “I
\ndo pray: I do pray for me, for our families, for our future”.<\/p>\n

The Pope addressed his fifth and final question to the Italian astronaut
\nPaolo Nespoli, assuring him of his prayers for the astronaut’s recently
\ndeceased mother and asking him how he was living through this time of
\nsorrow; if on the station he felt “far away and isolated, if you suffer a
\nsense of separation or if you feel united to and included in a community
\nthat accompanies you with care and affection?”.<\/p>\n

\n Thanking the pontiff for his prayers on the death of his mother, Nespoli
\nagreed that, being outside the world, “we have a vantage point to see the
\nEarth and to feel everything around us”.<\/p>\n

\n The Holy Father concluded the conversation by thanking them for “this
\nwonderful opportunity to meet and dialogue with you. You have helped me and
\nmany other people to reflect together on important issues that regard the
\nfuture of humanity. I wish you the very best for your work and for the
\nsuccess of your great mission at the service of science, international
\ncollaboration, authentic progress, and for peace in the world”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the Vatican Information service: POPE SPEAKS WITH SPACE STATION ASTRONAUTS VATICAN CITY, 21 MAY 2011 (VIS) – This Saturday, Benedict XVI held a conversation with the group of cosmonauts and astronauts aboard the International Space Station, on the occasion of the space shuttle Endeavour’s last mission. From a room in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25,2,8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hoodedhawk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1677"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hoodedhawk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hoodedhawk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoodedhawk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoodedhawk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1677"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoodedhawk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1692,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoodedhawk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1677\/revisions\/1692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hoodedhawk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoodedhawk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hoodedhawk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}