Posted on 09/02/2025 4:40:08 AM PDT by daniel1212
My name is Joe Owen. I head up the worldwide languages ministry at Answers in Genesis.
That's Charlie Duke. There were nine missions to the moon. I worked on five of them. In 1978, I became a born again Christian.
I came to faith on January 19, 1988. I was selected by NASA in 1996, and I flew four times—once on the space shuttle going to the space station and then three expeditions, each about six months long.
Many times, I am introduced as an astronaut, but if I were to describe myself, I certainly wouldn't call myself an astronaut, because the way I see myself is as a wretched sinner who is saved by grace. Second from being a wretched sinner saved by grace, I consider myself a naval aviator.
Barry and I actually shared a little bit of time in space—his first flight. He launched on the space shuttle STS 129 while I was on an expedition on the space station. So, he brought me fresh food, and there you go.
We had a great time.
He allowed us into his home because he was living there, of course, and we were just visiting. But it was a great experience. Jeff, at one point you had the most days in space. It's over 500 days, correct?
Yeah, I think they say 534 days.
And now, Butch, you're getting up there. You're at 446 total days, but also, you just came back from, as many people know, a mission that went longer than planned. Was it 286 days with the Starliner launch? So, I have three very interesting fellas in front of me with perspectives that a lot of us don't have. What is the wow moment?
The biggest wow for me is the grandeur of this place that we call home, which God created and uniquely provisioned for our habitation—we call it Earth. Orbiting the Earth 16 times a day for a year and a half, studying the surface of the Earth, and taking in all of the details you can see from that vantage point was the most spectacular part of the experience for me.
As soon as I got to space, the engines on the space shuttle cut off. We separated from the external tank. I felt weightlessness for the first time. There were jets in the nose of the space shuttle that were blasting orange bursts right up in front of me. I could hear it—little explosions at my feet. Boom. Boom. One of my crewmates levitated up from the mid deck. He didn’t climb the ladder, he just levitated up. I'd seen it on video, but never with my own eyes. It was the strangest sight—just floating up from below. When the shuttle separated from the external tank, water droplets on the tank turned to ice. Thousands of ice crystals floated outside the window, illuminated by the sun. It looked like glistening diamonds—thousands of them outside the window. Orange blast. Boom. Boom. Boom. I felt weightless. Still strapped in, my crewmates levitating everywhere. And I thought, “Wow, Lord. How did I get here? How did I get to this point where I am the guy in this seat and all this is taking place?” That was a pretty wild moment.
I think one of the most moving times of my flight was when we went into orbit around the moon and came around from the backside; we had Earthrise for the first time. Honestly, my first thought was, “We are a long way from home. I hope this thing holds together.” But then the beauty of it hit: that vision of Earth. It’s a beautiful planet. You don’t see any evidence of civilization, just that jewel suspended in the blackness of space. Vividly impressed in my mind still today.
General, when you say that, I think—wow, that vantage point of our planet from the backside of the moon, only 24 individuals have experienced that. You were one of them. That’s very special—a gift from the Lord not many people have had.
I can’t say at that point I recalled the Apollo 8 Christmas Eve broadcast. Bill Anders took that picture of Earth coming up and they started reading from Genesis: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." I got back and looked in the scriptures and it says, "When God made the earth, he suspended it upon nothing." That’s exactly what it looks like.
The three of you, in your wow moments, have not spoken about what everyone else mentions. When we ask an astronaut, we ask about the stars in the distance. All three of you have focused on Earth. I think that points again to our planet being where those made in the image of God are—the stewards and recipients of the gospel. Jesus came to this earth.
One of my favorite themes from scripture: when we think about the works of God, we think of creation, redemption, His provision and sustaining creation, but sometimes forget His work as governor and providence.
I'll echo that. He’s absolutely right. This amazing created globe that Isaiah tells us the Lord created to be inhabited—you can see that from space. It's a demonstration of God's providential care for each of us.
Everywhere I go, General, they ask: “The moon landings never happened, right?” Some people say it’s hard to believe they were fake. I say it’s hard to believe they were real. The moon landing—I just can't get behind it. I can’t believe it happened. There’s a bunch of weird theories.
It's regrettable that people believe 400,000 people supported the moon program and could all be part of a conspiracy. People believe that for strange reasons. But we know, of course, you went. There’s no way we would all stand here, professing our faith in Jesus Christ, and boldface lie to everyone—plus maintain that secret for 55 years.
The evidence is overwhelming. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken pictures of every Apollo landing site—there it is! Some say that's part of the conspiracy, too.
Charlie, describe what it’s like to hop around on the moon in a heavy suit at one-sixth gravity.
Down here, with all my gear on, I weighed 363 pounds. Up on the moon, 60 pounds. So you had this bounciness. Boy, was that fun. But you had to bend over to keep your center of gravity over your feet, or you’d tilt backward or fall forward. It was easy once we got used to it and how to move around the surface. John and I had a rover, so we didn’t walk far but drove 17 miles. I fell down a couple times while working on an experiment.
So now I'm flat on my face on the moon, and John's off somewhere busy. So I started a series of push-ups—rocked up on my feet and stood up. "How'd you like that?" "Ah, beautiful maneuver there, Charlie."
I felt right at home on the moon. The beauty—the rolling hills, craters, mountains, the clear horizon—no atmosphere, so you see the sharp line between black space and the gray moon. We had so much fun, I didn’t want to come back. “Come on, Houston, give us two more hours.” "Get in the spacecraft, guys." Our last hour on the moon was moving for me. I brought a picture of my family, dropped it on the moon. I thank God, looking back, for His providence, giving me that opportunity.
The general term is "spacewalk," but truly, of the three of us, only one walked on the moon. Jeff and I "spacehanded" on the space station, climbing hand over hand outside the station for nearly seven hours. It was the hardest thing we did—physically and mentally—but also the most rewarding.
This flat earth movement is gaining popularity, which surprises me. Of course, the earth is spherical. When I first heard about the flat earth movement in 2016, I thought it was satire. When I got back, I realized it was a new movement. Whenever I speak, this question comes up. Usually, someone knows a flat-earther. There's no logic to the argument. I've given up trying to argue logically. It's utter foolishness. It’s becoming more concerning: If you can believe that, you could be led astray about the truth of Scripture. It’s a dangerous heretical line of thinking.
You can look at the pictures we took of the earth—it’s round. No question. How can you defend a flat earth?
"How can you believe in the Bible and science? Aren’t those contradictory?" The true understanding of science is only understood through the biblical lens. During the age of science—Kepler, Newton, Maxwell—all were believers, driven to scientific endeavor by faith in a God of order. There's a mathematical, chemical, physical order in creation that makes science possible. We bear the image of God, the Creator; we are creative. In Genesis 1, God says to Adam, “Subdue the earth, have dominion.” Scientific endeavor, rightly understood, is subduing God’s provision.
Meanwhile, during the same era, you can see the evolution of evolutionary thought: what became known as Darwinian theory. Some, like Huxley, hated the church and even acknowledged there was little genuine science in Darwin’s work.
When people ask how the Bible and science fit, I point to Matthew 24—‘Be not deceived.’ Saying Bible and science are at odds is a deception. The Bible is absolutely true: inerrant, infallible, sufficient for all we need. It isn’t a science book, but where it speaks to science, it’s accurate, 100%. To say otherwise is heretical. Except for miracles, the Bible aligns 100% with science.
Science increasingly proves that life is not an accident: the genome, the helixes, are mathematically impossible by chance. I was a big evolutionist; that’s what NASA taught me. They called the moon rock I brought back four billion years old. They say it’s the oldest rock on earth that John and I picked up. Well, it might be the oldest, but it’s not four billion years old—that’s not what the Bible says. I believe scripture.
Sorry to bring such a philosophical, theological question at the end, but do astronauts get to keep their space suits?
No. Some keep gloves, like maybe Jeff has his Russian space suit gloves, I did not keep mine. Some keep something like that, but that’s about it. Russians have a tradition of giving gloves after a spacewalk.
Did you get to keep any of your suit?
Me? No. I wasn’t allowed to keep any of the suit. I kept some tools from the moon, and all the checklists. No moon rocks—they wouldn’t let us. You’d go to jail for a rock!
The time spent in the radiation belts was very short(time and exposure factors) and the radiation particles are widely dispersed in a way that there were few particles per given square cm’s that could actually do much damage. So yes the Van Allen belts have highly energetic particles but they aren’t concentrated in a dangerous way that say a gram of plutonium would be if held in one’s hands. The capsules did have decent shielding.
What do you think caused that rocket moving so fast to suddenly stop dead in its tracks?
When Genesis was written, the greatest scientific minds were sure that the sun and celestial bodies revolved around the earth. We were the center of the universe. A Day is the time measurement used to describe “one trip around” for the Sun. We perceive time as a constant.
God sees Earth as a dancing jewel spinning around our sun. Our solar system is sweeping along the arms of the Milky Way. From the view of an omnipotent Creator, “one trip around” could mean a full turn of the universe spiral. There is a possibility that time is a variable.
Imagine God trying to reveal divine knowledge and wisdom to man in the desert. Amazingly his brain was not fried, but Moses only had words that were available at the time. He wrote truthfully.
Our understanding is still like a child. So much to learn.
That is the “story”, but current scientists are working on a way to store water in the outer shell of the newest capsule to shield it. That is a lot of extra weight, if it isn’t important. They are also deciding how many boosters have to be in orbit to refuel, and having them in orbit around the Moon too. To me that means, it never happened. Plus the proven fake pictures of Earth taken from halfway to the Moon, with some camera tricks.
Believe implies religion. I simply do not know for sure. Let me see a 24/7 for about a week of videos of Earth from a satellite. Not CGI, but a real feed. I still don’t see how the Moon is at times dark on part of it, and light at the same time. I mean, in broad daylight, and both bodies are seen with the naked eye. What is blocking the light? Earth is not between the Moon and Earth at that point.
I’m done with you.
OMFG where do these idiots come from? Is there a special on DU trolls this week? The Earth-Moon system revolves around the sun. There is nothing blocking the light from reaching the Moon, it’s a function of the direction from the Moon to the Sun. The Moon is spherical and “blocks” the light itself.
Mods, can we do something about the trolls, please?
If Earth was flat, all the water would run off the edges of the disc...
Which verse says that?
1 Samuel 2:8, in part...for the pillars 4690 of the earth 776 [are] the LORD'S 3068, and he hath set 7896 8799 the world 8398 upon them.
Strong's Concordance...the foundations 4690 KJV says pillars
the foundations מְצֻ֣קֵי
(mə·ṣu·qê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's Hebrew 4690: 1) molten support, pillar, column
JOB 9:6 He shakes the earth out of its place, And its pillars tremble...
5982
so that its foundations וְ֝עַמּוּדֶ֗יהָ
(wə·‘am·mū·ḏe·hā)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's Hebrew 5982: 1) pillar, column 1a) pillar 1b) column, upright 1c) column (of smoke)
Where is this spinning, dancing jewel you mentioned?
1 Chronicles 16:30, Psalm 93:1, and Psalm 104:5
The earth is stable and will not be moved.
It’s plain to see that you have no clue to reality.
You never got started.
And the cats would knock everything else off the edge.
You win.
Clueless to reality, Part 2.
I wasn’t trying to “win” anything. I wanted to know how your belief was established.
You’re right-we DO have a lot to learn. All excellent points. Thanks!
I get you.👍
Live feed from ISS is available all over the interwebz ... youtube ... NASA TV .... Look it up. Or ... you can look at GOES imagery: fresh images taken every few minutes from Geostationary Orbit. "weather.gov" and "windy.com" both provide good access to that. If you don't trust them ... You might be interested to know that GOES imagery downlink is NOT encrypted. Instructions exist on the internet on how to build your own radio receiver to catch the downlink and convert it to images on your own computer.
I still don’t see how the Moon is at times dark on part of it, and light at the same time.
1) Moon is tidally locked to Earth. This means that the same side (with a little wobble) always faces Earth. Thus, there is a "far side" and a "near side".
2) Moon is tidally locked to Earth. This means that its rotational period on its axis is the same as its orbital period around Earth. Since it is rotating, it also has "day" and "night". Therefore, at times the Earth facing side is also fully sunlit. This, we call a "Full Moon". At other times, the Earth facing side is turned away from the Sun. This, we call a "New Moon". In between these two extremes, we have crescent moons, half-moons, and gibbous moons ... where we see part of the sunlit side, and part of the unlit side.
3) Occasionally, Earth's shadow passes in over the Earth facing side of the Moon ... this we call a lunar eclipse, and it can only happen during a Full Mmoon.
4) Occasionally, the Moon will pass between Earth and Sun. This we call a solar eclipse, and it can only happen during a New Moon.
Thank you. You beat me to it.
😂
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