Question for an Astronaut?

You may remember my blog back in February detailing our family’s magnificent visit to the Kennedy Space Center and the night launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor. Trent and Troy (& Dad!) are still talking about it. Jean is, too, but the Daly boys are a bit more obsessed.

Thankfully, Endeavor’s 13-day mission was deemed a wild success.

It included three spacewalks and the delivery of the final module to the U.S. portion of the space station. Endeavor Launch NASA.jpg

On Thursday April 8th, Jean, Trent and Troy and I have the privilege of having breakfast with Endeavor’s pilot, Colonel Terry Virts. I haven’t checked with the cook, but hopefully they won’t be serving freeze dried eggs and tall glasses of Tang—although the boys would love it!

As a youngster, I was a space junkie. Now, as an adult, I’m still utterly fascinated by the science and wonder of NASA’s many programs. I can’t wait to meet with this modern-day American hero.

Colonel Terry Virts is 40 years-old and an Air Force Academy graduate. He’s flown F-16 fighter missions over Iraq. But he’s most proud of his love for the Lord and his wife, Stacy, and their two children, Matthew, 10 and Stephanie, 7. Colonel Virts has called his faith his “foundation” and recently said something that I’m eager to delve deeper into over breakfast. He told a reporter:

“As far as my views of life in the universe in regards to my views as a Christian, I believe we have a really smart God who made everything. That’s why the Bible is the book that inspires me the most.”

During his recent mission, Colonel Virts made some news when he requested Brandon Heath’s “Give Me Your Eyes” as the flight crew wakeup call on Day 2. “What a great song by Brandon Heath [to listen to] as I was looking out the window at the beautiful Earth below,” he said.

As you can imagine I have a number of questions I’d like to ask the Colonel about his faith and space travel. What about you? If you had a chance to sit across the table from someone who’s been in space, what kinds of questions would you have? If you leave a response, I’ll do my best to pick one or two and ask the Colonel on your behalf this next week.