T-Minus 9—A Biblical Creationist in a Rocket Science World

Have you ever wondered how many Christians are working in the rocket science (space) industry today? From my experience, sadly, there aren’t many in the trade. Actually, most of the people I worked with did not believe in God, and if they did, they didn’t fully believe the whole Bible. In this chapter, I’ll tell you a little bit about what it was like to work in this currently secular industry and about some of the challenges that I experienced as a Christian who believes the whole Bible. (Yes, biblical creationists do real science!) Mainly, I pray this short chapter helps encourage anyone who is (or could be) in a similar situation. But first, let me share with you some of my background.

Coming to Faith in Christ

For most of my life, I grew up in a rather atheistic home, where my family rarely went to church. The only times I actually remember going was when my mom would insist on us going for special events like Easter and Christmas, mainly as nothing more than a tradition. So, naturally, I grew up not knowing anything about God and his Word. In fact, prior to my conversion, I considered myself a “militant atheist” and enjoyed debating Christians. Basically, I believed Christianity was for “weak-minded, nonintellectual” people who denied reality. It wasn’t until the spring of 2012, which was the year after I got married and started my first job in the space industry, that I clearly heard and understood the good news of Jesus Christ for the first time.

It all started when I got a phone call from an old college buddy (who was a Christian) and asked if I’d be game to read through a Christian book together. The book talked about God, creation, science, and outer space. My friend knew that I’ve always been fascinated by science, especially any space-related topics, which this book briefly touched on, and so he used the book as a “springboard” to witness to me. Plus, at the time, I enjoyed debating Christians, so I agreed to do the book study . . . but mainly so I could try to debunk his Christian faith! (And partly so I could make fun of him for it!)

Long story short, during our book study sessions (which turned into “debates”), I wanted to make sure that I accurately represented Christianity (not set up a “straw man”). So I then started doing my homework and asking lots of questions so I could better understand some of the primary Christian doctrines. But then, after a few of our normal evening debates, the subject of death and the afterlife finally came up. At that moment, I suddenly realized: “I’m going to die . . . what’s going to happen when I die?” I knew in my heart that I was not going to heaven.

By God’s grace, my old friend that night was able to clearly articulate the message of salvation—in a way that I finally understood—by focusing on the law of God, bringing about the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20). And it was at that moment when all those Christian doctrines that I had been studying really started to make sense—and I realized I was a sinner in need of God’s mercy.

That night, by the power of God, I repented of my sins and put my faith/trust in the saving work of Jesus Christ. When I became a Christian, it was like a light switch—from darkness to light—had flipped on in me. (Even my wife was a little freaked out by my rapid transformation!) I suddenly wanted to start going to church, pass out food to the homeless, and just tell all my family and friends (literally everyone I knew!) about Jesus and how God had transformed me into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Becoming a Biblical (Young Earth) Creationist

The day after my conversion, I walked into a Christian bookstore (back then, these bookstores were everywhere), bought my first Bible, and started reading it. I didn’t know where to start, so I figured why not start at the beginning, in Genesis. I quickly noticed that the plain reading of Genesis 1 was not lining up with what I had just learned in college about the origin/evolution of the universe (i.e., the big bang model). So I immediately began wondering if there was a way to “fit” the big bang, evolution, and “millions of years” into the days of creation. I also had a lot of questions such as, “Why aren’t dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible?” “Who was Cain’s wife?” and “What about life on other planets?”

Initially, my search led me to learn about some of the popular (compromising) views like gap theory, day-age theory, progressive creation, framework hypothesis,and others, trying to see how to “fit” evolutionary ideas into Genesis. However, none of these views ever truly made sense to me. So, for quite some time, I really had no idea how to interpret Genesis. But at the time, I also didn’t think it was all that important, so I eventually just stopped trying to figure it out.

But then, one day, I heard about creation ministries like Institute for Creation Research (ICR) and Answers in Genesis (AiG) from a secular colleague of mine, who would tell me how “crazy” it was that people today actually believe the earth is only 6,000 years old—to which I agreed! Even though I was a Christian at the time, I just couldn’t believe how anyone could deny the “truth” of evolution (including cosmological, geological, and biological evolution) in our modern “sophisticated” era!

Shortly after, I started looking into these ministries, specifically AiG, trying to understand why so many Christians were foolishly denying “science” (evolution). But then, I started stumbling across various articles and presentations, by Ken Ham and others, explaining why evolution is actually not science—but rather religious beliefs about the unobservable past—built on the religion of humanism (man’s word).1 Simply put, I realized that I had to stop trying to mix man-made religious beliefs with my Christianity.2

That is, it finally “clicked” for me once I understood that belief in evolution undermines biblical authority—and the gospel itself—by accepting millions of years of death, pain, and suffering before man’s sin.

And after hearing one of Ken Ham’s talks, I also recognized the importance of believing in biblical creation. That is, it finally “clicked” for me once I understood that belief in evolution undermines biblical authority—and the gospel itself—by accepting millions of years of death, pain, and suffering before man’s sin.3 After coming to that realization, “light bulbs” really began turning on in my mind!

After that, I knew I had a choice to make: who was going to be my ultimate/final authority? Was I going to continue putting my trust in man’s fallible opinions about the past or start fully trusting God’s infallible Word? In the end, I realized the importance of building all my thinking—in every area—on the Bible and examining everything through a biblical worldview (the “lens” of Scripture).

Finally, once I had the correct worldview—built on the firm foundation of God’s Word—I was able to correctly interpret things in the world and get the biblical answers to my questions! Most notably, I was able to find answers to my main questions from AiG resources like the New Answers Book series (which has over 120 common questions on creation, evolution, science, and the Bible).4

My Journey from NASA → Answers in Genesis (AiG)

When I was a kid, I always enjoyed looking up at the stars and often wondered how I could possibly make it up into space one day. I also loved watching on TV the NASA space shuttles launch astronauts into space. But most of all, I would say my love for rocket science and space exploration really came from my grandpa, who worked on NASA programs such as Voyager 1 and 2 (he designed the onboard communications systems for the spacecraft). I always enjoyed listening to his stories! And it was this experience that helped fuel (pun intended!) my love for rocket science.

But rather than being an astronaut, I eventually decided that I wanted to build the rockets that would send astronauts and satellites into space. So, after high school, I chose to go to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) to pursue a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering, which I received in 2011 (the year prior to becoming a Christian).5

That same year, my new bride and I moved from Arizona to Colorado to start my rocket science career. A year later, the aerospace company I was working for at the time offered to pay my tuition to pursue a graduate degree from the University of Colorado. Two years later, in 2014, I received a master of science degree in astrodynamics and satellite navigation.6 I then began applying my new set of skills working on some exciting NASA programs. This included sending spacecraft to Mars, Jupiter, asteroids, and even the sun—as part of a mission called Parker Solar Probe (this was the first mission to “touch” the sun).

A few years later, we decided to move from Colorado back to Arizona, where I got the opportunity to be the lead navigation engineer for two (really cool!) NASA programs. The first was the Pegasus rocket program, which is a unique air-launch system that gets launched from the bottom of a huge aircraft (called Stargazer L-1011) flying around 40,000 feet over the open ocean. Second, I had the opportunity to lead a number of International Space Station (ISS) resupply missions. This was an exciting and fun program that launched supplies, such as water, food (even turkey meals for Thanksgiving!), and various science equipment up to the astronauts onboard the ISS.

But then, in 2020, everything changed. Not only was the world hit hard by the COVID pandemic, but also by the popular rise of social-justice (Marxist) ideologies, such as critical race theory (CRT) and intersectionality, especially in the US.7 In particular, the space industry, in general, had gone completely “woke”8 by embracing—and even promoting—Marxist-led organizations and aggressively pushing the latest LGBT agenda.

Many agencies were pushing these religious viewpoints—regardless of an individual’s convictions. There was a widespread concerted effort to make sure everyone had the same religious beliefs that were being promoted by the government and the culture at large.

Obviously, this was an attack against my Christian faith! Inevitably, this turn of events led me to start looking for other employment. At one point, someone even said, “You don’t have to actually agree with it, but at least pretend that you do.”

After months of constant prayer, asking God for his guidance, and receiving wise counsel from the elders at my church, I decided to apply my talents to ministry work. Plus, I had already been considering going into ministry, so this was the “push” to make it happen. Specifically, I wanted to focus my efforts on motivating young Christians interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to “take back” this currently secular space industry (as well as every other field of science!). It was definitely a tough decision, but the following verse helped solidify it for me:

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. (Matthew 9:37–38)

So I applied for a position with Answers in Genesis. And by God’s providence . . . I was hired! I then moved my family from Arizona to the Cincinnati area. (At the time, my three children were all under the age of five, so it was a very stressful time!) And I began working full-time for the ministry in the fall of 2021.

Challenges in the Rocket Science Industry

It was tough being a Christian—especially one who believed in biblical (young earth) creation—during my career. In fact, some of my colleagues thought that believing in biblical creation also meant that I was a “science-denier” (or even a flat-earther!), which actually showed they really didn’t understand the true definition of science—or the biblical view!9 It was an obvious misrepresentation of my position, called a straw man fallacy (a subclass of the fallacy of irrelevant thesis), so it didn’t really bother me.

It was tough being a Christian—especially one who believed in biblical (young earth) creation—during my career.

The main challenge I faced was NASA’s unbiblical motivation for each of its missions. Once you get past all the “fluff” from the media, the primary goals of every mission that I’ve worked on are based on evolutionary beliefs, which normally included the constant search for “evidence” of life in outer space and the attempt to explain the origin/evolution of our universe (without God). Of course, the reason is that the people I worked with, in general, follow a view of origins based on naturalism (meaning “nature is all that exists,” governed by natural laws, and thus no need for God).

But sadly, even the small number of Christians that I worked with also followed this view—believing we should do science assuming the religion of naturalism. In other words, they essentially believed that the testimony of Scripture, the eyewitness account of God, should be dismissed when doing science. Not only is this way of thinking sinful against God (which should be reason enough!), but it’s also irrational!10

Needless to say, my Christian coworkers fell into the same trap I had fallen into during my early Christian walk of trying to “twist” God’s infallible Word in order to fit man’s fallible ideas (evolution and “millions of years”) into the text. But the real issue, which I eventually learned, was that they were willing to compromise biblical authority in order to elevate man’s opinions as the ultimate standard (above God). In other words, they bought into the sinful belief that man ultimately decides what is “true” (again, that is humanism).

Actually, this tension I had with them was much more difficult to deal with than my secular coworkers—since they were at least consistent! It’s understandable for unbelievers to deny God’s Word as their ultimate authority, but it makes no sense for professing Christians! In particular, my Christian coworkers compromise the historical account of Genesis, usually believing in some form of old-earth creation and/or theistic evolution. (Of course, I’m not saying every Christian in the space industry compromises the truth of Genesis, but that I never had the privilege of personally meeting any of them during my career.)11

After having conversations with several Christian coworkers, I found out that, in general, most of them reject the plain (biblical) reading of Genesis 1–11, such as believing the days of creation are not literal (24-hour) days and that the global flood of Noah’s day was a “local” one—with some even believing Genesis is written in a “poetic fashion” (and thus not meant to be taken literally).12

Using Rocket Science to Glorify God

As Christians, it’s time we get back to basing all our thinking on God’s Word—especially in fields of science. The Bible says,

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)

[Christ] in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. (Colossians 2:3–4)

As Christians, it’s time we get back to basing all our thinking on God’s Word—especially in fields of science.

This means that in our pursuit of knowledge (the definition of science!), we can either begin our thinking with God and his Word, or we can reject him and be reduced to foolishness. Regrettably, many people (including professing Christians!) in the space industry have chosen the path of foolishness.

And note that the Bible says all wisdom and knowledge are found in Christ, who never changes (Hebrews 13:8) and promises to uphold the entire universe by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3). Therefore, we need more Christians—who unashamedly stand on biblical authority—to take back the field of rocket science (as well as every other science field!) all to the glory of God!

Again, Christians are a small minority in the space industry today. However, this industry is rapidly growing and will likely continue to expand in the future. So this means that, unless more Christians start stepping onto the field, the vast majority of current and future scientists will continue exploring space—for the wrong (unbiblical) reasons! (Based on the fallacious worldview of naturalism, which we will unpack in later chapters.) So, if you’re a Christian interested in rockets and space, then I highly encourage you to get out there and pursue a career in this field!

Or maybe you’re a Christian who’s working in the industry and experienced (or are experiencing) a challenging situation similar to mine. If so, I pray this chapter has been an encouragement to you to remain strong and stand firm in the faith—with zero compromise (1 Corinthians 16:13). God’s Word says to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:11) and to destroy every argument and lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

And remember that God promises to give wisdom generously to those who ask (James 1:5) so don’t let yourself be taken captive by worldly “wisdom,” nor be conformed to the thinking of this world (Romans 12:2). And remember that King Jesus promises to put every enemy, including every form of worldly philosophy, under his feet (1 Corinthians 15:25).

Read God’s Word and be consistent in prayer and in fellowship with other believers. Those are the fundamentals (which every Christian should practice daily) that really helped me stay committed to God and his authority during my rocket science career . . . and I hope they do for you as well!

I hope this preview (“teaser”) of the upcoming book was an encouragement to you. Make sure to be on the lookout for when this book gets published next year (2025). You’ll be able to purchase a copy at the AiG bookstore: https://answersingenesis.org/store/books. In the meantime, I encourage you to check out some of the other available resources, such as Awesome Facts About Space (which I helped put together): https://answersingenesis.org/store/product/awesome-facts-space/?sku=1005678.