Thursday, April 3, 2025

Making and breaking records

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American astronaut Jeffrey Nels Williams landed on planet earth on September 6, 2016 after spending 534 days in space after he took off on March 18, 2015. Fifty eight year old Williams set the new NASA record for cumulative time spent in space. In those 534 days, Williams has captured some of planet Earth’s more spectacular features such as the pale blues of coral reefs, unique agricultural plots, and winding river deltas, along with astrological features such as noctilucent clouds, aurorae, and the full moon..

While in space Williams has seen the International Space Station (ISS) grow from a single, crew-less module to the continuously-manned orbiting laboratory that it is today. His first mission was aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis back in 2000, where he worked to prepare the space station for its first crew, spending just 10 days in space. He returned in 2006 and spent six months there, setting up experiments and replacing equipment. In 2009 ,Williams commanded the station for the first time, overseeing the arrival of, among other things, the famous cupola. On his most recent mission, the station had officially been declared complete, but Williams still found work to do, adding a docking adaptor and helping to deploy a new module.

A Christian by faith, Williams confesses that he is never tired of viewing the beautiful planet earth from space; a planet which is the only home for humans and other living creatures. Earlier on his return from one of his space journeys, Expedition 21, Williams wrote the book, “The Works of His Hands: A View of God’s Creation from Space.” The book chronicles his sense of awe at the goodness of divine providence. Williams is a retired United States Army officer and a NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of four space flights and currently holds the American record for most days spent in space.

But Williams’ record is soon set to be broken by astronaut Peggy Whitson who is scheduled to undertake her space mission in November this year. The human spirit knows no bounds indeed! .

 

 

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