Skip links

Kresta in the Afternoon – July 19, 2023 – Hour 1

This week is the anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. Kendrick tells the story of the US space program and the religious lives of some of the astronauts.

 

God and the Space Program

Just over 50 years ago, the Apollo 11 astronauts were hurtling toward the moon, where they would set foot on July 20. A few months before, astronauts on the Apollo 8 mission capsule recited the first ten verses from the book of Genesis as they circled the Earth on Christmas Eve. What role did religious motivation play in making one of mankind’s greatest dreams a reality? We talk with Kendrick Oliver.

 
Kendrick Oliver is the author of To Touch the Face of God: The Sacred, the Profane, and the American Space Program. He's a professor of American History and head of the History Department at University of Southampton in the UK.
Share with Friends: