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Tuesday, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Vice President Pence said, "A new era of American national security in space begins today."
He invoked God's blessing on the mission, reminding us all of the message astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell sent to the world on Christmas Eve 1968 as their Apollo 8 rounded the moon for the 9th time.
Vice President Mike Pence announced Tuesday at the groundbreaking event in Florida, "A new era of American national security in space begins today.
He said,
"So, thank you for your service to the country for all of you who have been called to serve in our armed forces, Without your unwavering commitment, with the courage of our men and women in uniform, with the continued support of the American people, with the vision and leadership of our commander-in-chief, and with God's help, I know we will give America the defense she needs here on Earth and in the outer reaches of space."
He commended the work that has been done in space travel in the past, saying this new effort will build on what others have accomplished.
Back in June of this year, President Trump announced that the United States could soon have a branch of the military dedicated to defending and potentially fighting in outer space.
He said the DOD is working on a congressionally mandated study of the possibility of a space force with a final report due in December.
In August of this year, Vice President Pence announced that the Pentagon was indeed planning to create a space force, which will be the first new armed service since 1947 and the 6th branch of the US military.
He said the first step will be to create a US Space Command by the end of the year.
President Trump has kept his promise. "By the end of the year," is now. And as Pence said Tuesday, "A new era of American national security in space begins today."
Pence reminded those in attendance that the race for space is much different today than it was in the 1960s. Today, he said, "adversaries like Russia and China are transforming it into a war-fighting domain."
He said, "Under President Trump's leadership, we will meet it head on to defend our nation and build a peaceful future here on Earth and in space."
The vice president said that will require one thing---faith in God and each other.
He continued:
"And as we embark, we do so with faith. Faith in all of you who have answered the call to serve in the uniform of the United States of America at such a time as this in the life of our nation. Faith to all the incredible civilian personnel who serve here in the Department of Defense with equal devotion to our nation," Pence said.
"And we do so with that other kind of faith as well. And just as generations of Americans have carried those who have taken to the skies in the defense of freedom borne upon their prayers, I want to assure all of you, who will be called to this enterprise, that you can be confident. You can be confident that you will go with the prayers of millions of Americans who will claim on your behalf, as generations have claimed before, those ancient words, that if you "rise on the wings of the dawn, if you settle on the far side of the sea," even if you go up to the heavens, "even there His hand will guide you, His right hand will hold you fast." And He will hold fast this great nation in the great beyond."
Pence told the press and the people attending that this announcement was coming nearly 50 years after the Apollo 8 astronauts became the first humans to orbit the moon and return to Earth.
It was on Christmas Eve, 1968 that Mission Commander Frank Borman and Module Pilot Jim Lovell rounded the moon for the 9th time as they took turns reading passages from the Bible's first book of Genesis.
The event was being covered here on Earth by live television. The TV folks were not aware of what the astronauts were about to read:
"In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, let there be light, and there was light"...and they continued reading.
This is a YouTube link to the event. It's just under 3 minutes. Take a couple minutes and watch it. And ask yourself, "How great is our God?"
I'm taking a week off. We will resume publishing this Faith and Freedom Daily on Wednesday, January 2, 2019.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Blessed New Year.
Be Blessed.