(RNS) — On a humid evening in late March, Victor Glover huddled with his fellow Artemis II astronauts to have what the spacefarers called their “ultimate dinner.” It was their last full meal before embarking on their historic journey around the Moon — the first human-crewed visit to Earth’s silver satellite since 1972.
After Glover finished his spread of lamb chops, spinach and sweet potatoes, the cook returned with something else: Communion elements. The cook, a Christian himself, then sat next to Glover and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen as the men paused to pray before observing the Christian sacrament together.
“I prayed and I pleaded that God accepts that I do this for the mission,” Glover, who worships with Churches of Christ congregations in Texas, told Religion News Service in a recent video interview.
It was a quiet moment of religious ritual shortly before a rocket launch so explosively loud that, even a mile away, the boom rivaled the sound of standing near a screaming jet engine. The Space Launch System that carried the Orion spacecraft then catapulted Glover, the pilot for the mission, and his fellow Artemis II crew members into space, where they soared around the Moon and back in a gaping 252,756 mile arc …