Introduction

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Most readers will recognize this as the first words of the Book of Genesis. Some may also recall these words being read to millions of people on Earth in 1968 by the astronauts aboard Apollo 8. But many will wonder what significance these words—or any religious sentiment—have as humans venture farther into space. Consider the years between 1633 and 1705. In 1633, Italian astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei was tried and condemned by the Roman Catholic Church for advocating a scientific theory that denied Earth's role as the center of the universe. The shift over the last century has been just as dramatic. In October 1957, the former Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first human satellite to circumnavigate the globe.