Should Christians Support Space Exploration?

Humans are essentially hardwired to explore their surroundings, even at risk to their lives. Just think of the early explorers of Antarctica, the many Mt. Everest climbers, and the few brave souls who have plummeted to investigate the Marianas Trench. What is it that continually drives humans to spread out and explore our territories?

People have been expanding over the earth since Noah and his family exited the ark after the global flood. From Scripture, we clearly see God’s desire for us to spread out, starting with his command to subdue the earth in the very beginning of creation (Genesis 1:28) and with the forced dispersion of the people groups at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1–9).

Today, humans have largely scoured the known earth. So what’s left? Currently, on most people’s radar, it’s the next and perhaps final frontier—outer space. We are now aiming to effectively traverse the expanse to explore new worlds, such as planets, moons, and even other star systems.

With degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Astrodynamics and Satellite Navigation, I worked in the rocket business for nearly a decade before joining Answers in Genesis.1 During my time in the industry, I was involved as an aerospace engineer planning various NASA missions, including MAVEN, InSight, and Parker Solar Probe—the first-ever mission to “touch” the sun. I was also the lead navigation engineer on several NASA Commercial Resupply Missions, launching equipment and supplies to the astronauts onboard the International Space Station. I was heavily involved with space exploration endeavors, all while being a Christian.

In our modern secular culture, the two main goals of space exploration rest upon a naturalistic worldview,2 typically involving the search for proof of a cosmological evolutionary origin of the universe (for example, big bang cosmology) and the search for alien life. Both goals are utterly unbiblical and unscientific, since they are not observable, testable, or repeatable.

Should Christian scientists, like me, support exploring the heavens and potentially sending humans farther into space—or even colonizing other planets and moons in our solar system? When we start with a biblical creation worldview, we see that Scripture implicitly defines our role concerning the heavens.

God’s Original Command

In Genesis, God told man to have dominion over creation by caring for it and enjoying it. This command extends beyond our stratosphere. God tells us in Genesis 1:14–16 that the expanse (or firmament) includes the sun, moon, and stars, suggesting that, in addition to the earth, man has also been given dominion over outer space.

In Psalm 8:3, we read that the heavens are the work of God’s fingers, and he has set the moon and stars in their place. After that we read, “You have given him [man] dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet” (Psalm 8:6). This clearly implies that we at least have the right and privilege to explore all of God’s creation, including the heavens.

Psalm 19:1–2 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge,” meaning we have the wonderful privilege of seeing God’s glory reflected in the heavens.

“To look out at this kind of creation out here and not believe in God is, to me, impossible. It just strengthens my faith.”

After returning from his final space mission in 1998, US astronaut John Glenn3 said, “To look out at this kind of creation out here and not believe in God is, to me, impossible. It just strengthens my faith.” Like many of the great Christian astronomers of the past, such as Johannes Kepler, we should study and explore the heavens to admire the handiwork and glory of God (Hebrews 1:3). The more we study and marvel at the immense magnificence of our universe, the more we deepen our knowledge of God’s holy character displayed in all of creation, leading us to praise the Creator and Sustainer of all this immense complexity.

Scientific Advancements

Because of the dominion mandate, God has graciously allowed us to accumulate the knowledge needed to develop many great technologies,4 along with numerous beneficial processes and inventions that have been created as a direct result of space exploration.5 These benefits have made our lives easier and safer, ranging from complex image processing to even fire-resistant pajamas.

Over the past few decades, research in space has let us conduct science experiments in a unique way that cannot be done here on the earth. For instance, long-duration microgravity research on the International Space Station (ISS) has led to several scientific breakthroughs and advancements, such as learning how the human body changes in microgravity and even how to effectively grow food like vegetables in space.6 And from using instruments on the ISS, we’ve further advanced our understanding of God’s creation in deep space, learning more about cosmic particles and celestial objects like pulsars and black holes.

On top of that, doing science in space has led to further discoveries in fluid physics, which has also led to advances in medical technologies, thermodynamics (heat transfer systems), cancer therapy, and disease research (for example, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease). So, this research in space not only benefits astronauts and future space missions but also benefits us here on the earth.

Counting the Costs

Launching humans into space involves large monetary expenses and risks. Currently, the costs of sending unmanned spacecraft to other planets or bodies in our solar system are small fractions compared to sending humans with the same mission. For example, the overall cost to send a rover to Mars is typically around $1–2 billion dollars, whereas the cost estimates of a manned mission would range from $100–500 billion. The drawback is that unmanned spacecraft (such as probes and rovers) will never exhibit the real curiosity or wonder of human explorers.

Assuming the costs involved with space exploration continue to decrease, thanks to the exponential increase in recent technology, I believe we should start focusing on launching manned missions into space and potentially even colonize planets like Mars.

Significant expansion in space travel is becoming closer to a reality. In fact, thanks to burgeoning independent space exploration companies, such as SpaceX,7 a handful of wealthy people have already experienced flying over 60 miles well above the stratosphere, to the brink of space. And SpaceX is currently developing plans to eventually colonize Mars, possibly by the end of this decade.

We can confidently view space exploration as an exciting scientific venture that will expand our knowledge of God’s creation, helping to fulfill our creation mandate—all to the glory of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.