"It's the blue of the Virgin's veil"

Thanks to Cathy in the combox for the link to this moving account, by Thomas D Jones, of his first trip into space: Reaching the Heavens: An Astronaut's Spiritual Journey. Here is an extract:
I rolled away from my crewmates, unable to stem the tears evoked by that singular sunrise. My gaze turned to the overhead windows and the Pacific Ocean, the dawn lighting its surface in a rich, limitless blue.

I called out to Kevin and Sid, “Look at that ocean—what an incredible color!” They both turned and drank in hues unmatched by the palette of any human artist. After a moment, Kevin said simply, “It’s the blue of the Virgin’s veil, Tom.” He was right. There were no other words for that vision out the window.


Growing up through the sixties and seventies, I always looked with awe on the idea of space travel and envied those who were able to travel into space. Nowadays it seems that we are more cynical about this and space travel is one of those "page 14" stories unless there is an accident or something. The predictions made in my youth of affordable space travel for the masses have not materialised. Pity. I'd love to have a look at the earth from up there and recite some of the psalms.

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