Posted on 04/21/2006 11:46:49 AM PDT by blam
When you're in orbit, which way is Mecca?
12:14 21 April 2006
NewScientist.com news service
Kelly Young
Dan Bursch, Yuri Onufrienko and Carl Walz pose with their Christmas tree aboard the International Space Station in 2001 (Image: NASA)
Malaysia's National Space Agency is trying to determine how its astronaut candidates will practice Islam in space. Three of its four astronaut candidates are Muslim, and two will be selected for a future Russian space flight.
Once in their orbiting spacecraft, they will circle the Earth once every 90 minutes. Traditionally, Muslims pray five times per day, at times connected to the position of the Sun in the sky. This will make prayer observance a challenge if they accept a "day" as being just 90 minutes long.
A similar problem occurs for Muslims who live close to Earth's polar regions where there are long periods of daylight or darkness. Islamic legal scholars traditionally say that in such situations, a Muslim should pray as they would at a particular, relatively high latitude, even if they venture nearer the poles.
"Any legal scholar advising these astronauts would have to simply pick various times that would roughly correspond to their morning, noon, afternoon, sunset and night prayers," says Alan Godlas, a professor of religion at the University of Georgia, US.
Minor ablutions
Additionally, Muslims turn toward Mecca when they pray. Zooming around the Earth at 28,000 kilometres per hour might make pinpointing the exact location of Mecca pretty tricky. Godlas says that orienting oneself toward Earth might be good enough. "There are instances where the prophet indicated a wide swathe; kind of a general direction," Godlas says.
And Muslims have a cleansing ritual, known as ablutions, before prayer. But water is used sparingly in space. Godlas says astronauts could force water between their two hands and then moisten the body during a minor ablution.
On Earth, it is ideal to have water running along the arms from the faucet, but water does not flow downward in microgravity. Godlas says that when water is not available, scholars have determined a pure rock could be used to wipe the hands. The hands could then clean the forearms, face and feet.
Saudi Arabian astronaut Sultan Salman Al-Saud flew aboard the shuttle in 1985. He was scheduled to look out the shuttle's window to see the crescent of the new moon to mark the end of the Muslim religious holiday, Ramadan.
Electric menorah
About 150 scientists, astronauts, religious scholars and academics are expected to gather in Malaysia on 25 and 26 April for an "Islam and Life in Space" seminar.
People have found ways to celebrate other religions above Earth. Israel's first astronaut Ilan Ramon, who died in the shuttle Columbia accident, was not a religious Jew, but he ate some Kosher food aboard the shuttle and observed the Jewish Sabbath. But rather than observing Sabbath every seventh sundown, Ramon followed the timings on Earth.
Walter Sipes, chief of operational psychology at NASA's Johnson Space Center, says that a menorah (a Jewish candle holder) has not yet been requested for a long mission aboard the space station. It might be possible to send a menorah with little electric bulbs, he says.
Streaming religion
Christianity has had a long history in space. Of the 29 Apollo astronauts, 23 were Protestant and six were Catholic.
Buzz Aldrin, a Presbyterian, gave himself Holy Communion once his lunar lander touched down on the Moon. And while circling the Moon during the Apollo 8 mission, Frank Borman apologised to his Episcopal congregation because he would not make it back to Earth in time to be a lay reader on Christmas Eve. Borman and his crew did read from the book of Genesis.
Now, if astronauts request it, NASA can send up streaming video of religious services. There is also a Christmas tree on the International Space Station. "For some, religion is very comforting and we certainly want to respect that," Sipes told New Scientist.
still be useful for missles.
Not sure. But if that waste dump's splat looks anything like Mohammed, someone's gonna be in a world of trouble.
Ah, finally we know why none of the Muslim countries are very big on scientific advances. They have to spend all of their brightest minds energy figuring out how to take a crap without offending allah.
That's easy. Here is the satellite image.
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?btnG=Search+Froogle&q=pizza&addr=mecca+California&lnk=flp&lmode=local&hl=en
Here is a better view of Mecca from satellite....
http://local.google.com/local?btnG=Search+Froogle&q=pizza+near:+mecca+California&sa=N&tab=fl
Oh great, suicide astronauts,
Yeah, you're right. All I know about the so-called "religion of peace" is what I saw on Sept. 11, 2001, the Nick Berg video, the school children in Russia, the failure of most of the rest of the Muslim world to publicly condemn those responsible for Muslim violence, etc. Need I go on? Naw, just re-read my last phrase until it begins to sink in.
They also can NOT poop in the direction of (or the direction pointing away from) mecca.
I've found that an "icing on the cake" as it were. My toilet faces Mecca.
Down!
Down.
Next question?
Down.
Next question?
These posts are stupid and offensive. Childish really. And you can read my 8 years of posts on here to find out how stridently pro defense, anti terrorist, etc I am.
In fact I can't resist telling you that by posting "that's all I know about the religion of peace" you sum up your ignorance. It's easy to be bigoted, it's not so easy to deal with the big world out there. Make an effort.
Sorry, don't buy this logic "Williams" The "effort" to show us that there are good muslimes must come from them not us. We have witnessed 40+ years of their childish (you seem to like that word) jumping up and down in the streets screaming death to America and the moderates you claim exist have remained silent. No my FR friend, the effort must come from muslimes.
We are already losing our rights to go about our daily lives without the threat of this scum or our own government taking away our rights instead of theirs. No again my FR friend, the effort is not ours to make but has to come from the alleged religion of peace. Unless PROVEN otherwise it is neither a religion nor is it peaceful.
Is this not enough of a starter list for you to acknowledge not all moslems are our enemies? It has to start with them? OK, how about the Iraqi army recruits we are training? How about the anti-mullah Iranian students? Guess we have to kill the Pakistani president that Al Queda is trying to kill because he is our ALLY.
Stop talking a bunch of bigoted and ignorant trash. I'm just as aware as you of all the problems coming out of the moslem world. But saying they all "smell" is indeed a childish approach.
We need to find the place in the koran where space travel is forbidden since it is a tool of the infidels. Same is true for enriching uranium.
But if they do insist on going into orbit, the koran requires them to step outside of their vehicle to pray.
Hey, Mecca is in Ohio!
Make wudu. I find it an interesting expression. In a Beavis & Butthead sort of way. It means to do the washing thingie, IIRC...
Yup... I guess that's all you know.
On the other hand, there was the Islamic professor who got me into grad school and his wife. His best friend from back home, who had been one of my mother's friends, when they taught in the same department. The Islamic doctor among the six I work for now (soon to be 2 Islamic among 7). The Islamic grad student, who was a good friend of my in-laws -- who my wife describes as the most pro-Zionist non-Jew she ever met.
Heck, as someone aware of Jewish history, it's only in the past two hundred years or so that Christians have been more tolerant than Muslims. Go back more than three-hundred years, it's the Muslims who had a far more tolerant society.
"The religion of peace" was a particularly inept phrase on Bush's part. No religion is a religion of peace, once it gets power. Not Islam. Not Christianity. Even Judaism, isn't exactly a religion peace. And, yes, there are times that I think, Mecca delenda est.
But I'm with Williams on this. If nothing else, when I read this cr@p and consider the Muslim friends I know, I am embarrassed to be on FreeRepublic.
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