CHINA - Three-Person Crew in Space
China declared a “complete success” after it launched a new three-person crew to its orbiting space station as the country seeks to expand its exploration of outer space with missions to the moon and beyond.
China built its own space station after being excluded from the International Space Station, mainly because of U.S. concerns over the People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese Communist Party’s military arm’s overall control over the space program. China’s moon program is part of a growing rivalry with the U.S. and others, including Japan and India.
The team of two men and one woman will replace the astronauts who have lived on the Tiangong space station for the last six months. They are expected to stay until April or May of next year.
China launched its first crewed mission in 2003, becoming only the third nation to do so after the former Soviet Union and the United States. The space program is a source of enormous national pride and a hallmark of China’s technological advances over the past two decades.
-www.npr.org, 30 October 2024
Arno's Commentary
So-called space exploration began with the 4 October 1957 launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite by the Soviet Union. There have been numerous publications by scientists speculating on and proclaiming their intention to explore the universe.
According to a Google search, NASA launched Voyager 1 in 1977. It is now 15 billion miles away. The original purpose of Voyager was to conduct close-up studies of Jupiter and Saturn.
When doing research, a large list of “discoveries” is made, but in reality, it is utter darkness.
Yes, scientific experiments and data are collected from these journeys—even the landing of the American astronauts on the moon—but when we ask what the purpose is, we can answer with the last sentence of the article: “The space program is a source of enormous national pride…”
Why go into space? Again, “science fiction” attempts to find life on other planets—the possibility of expanding the horizon above and beyond earth—but it is futile. Why? Because, “The heavens declare the glory of God,” the Bible says. No man can reach those places except through simple faith in the already accomplished work of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amos admonishes us: “Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name” (Amos 5:8). Colossians 1:16 declares: “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.”
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
