First Papal Space Blessing Ever Bestowed on the Endeavour

In the first ever papal call to space, the Endeavour and its crew of 12 astronauts received a blessing from Pope Benedict XVI on Sat., May 21, 2011. The historic blessing from the holy pontiff, was bestowed on the space ship Endeavour's crew a couple of hours after the shuttle's astronauts finished checking out a small gash on the belly of the space ship and it was determined that no repairs were necessary.

Sitting at a table in front of a television set that was tuned to NASA's live broadcast from orbit, Pope Benedict XVI addressed the crew, making special mention of commander Mark Kelly's wounded wife, Rep. Gabrielle Gifford who is recovering from the gunshot wound she received to her head back in Jan., and also expressed concern for astronaut Palo Nespoli, whose mother died at the beginning of May while he was serving on the space station.

Among the remarks the pope made in the 18 minute conversation with the shuttle astronauts was his admiration for the courage, discipline and commitment of the crew of the Endeavour. He also said, " it's obvious how we all live on one Earth and how absurd it is that we fight and kill each other", referring to the shooting of commander Kelly's wife, Rep. Gifford.

Pope Benedict also asked about the future of the planet and the environmental risks it faces, and what the message of the astronauts to young people will be when the Endeavour returns home.

Some of the remarks by the astronauts to the pontiff included their observation of how beautiful the planet Earth is that God made, and also the fact that the universe is out there to be explored.

Pope Benedict chuckled when one of the astronauts began floating up at the end of the call. He then waved them on.

The long distance papal transmission was arranged by both the European and Italian Space Agencies, with technical support from Mission Control in Houston. The call was received with visible awe at the Vatican, where email wasn't even widely used until a few years ago. A Vatican spokesman said Pope Benedict XVI's call was evidence of his desire to communicate with people however possible that may be.

The spaceship Endeavour is scheduled to return home on June 1st.

Source: msnbc.com