Ride of a Lifetime
“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” [1.Thessalonians 4:17]
America’s first manned launch vehicle engine only produced 78,000 pounds of thrust. In comparison, the space shuttle’s three main engines and two solid rocket boosters generated some 7.3 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. The energy released was equivalent to the output of 23 Hoover Dams and was more powerful than 35 jumbo jets at takeoff.
The liquid hydrogen in the space shuttle’s main engine was minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit, the second-coldest liquid on Earth, and when burned with liquid oxygen, the engine’s combustion temperature reached over 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit, two-thirds the temperature of the sun’s surface. Two minutes of the heat energy produced by the shuttle at liftoff, converted to electric energy, would have produced enough kilowatts to power 87,000 homes for a full day. The speed of the gases exiting the nozzle was more than 6,000 mph, about five times the speed of sound.
The turbo pump on the space shuttle’s main engine was so powerful it could drain an average family-sized swimming pool in 25 seconds. After liftoff it only took about eight minutes for the space shuttle to accelerate to a speed of more than 17,000 mph.
During its fiery re-entry, the underbelly of the orbiter was protected by some 24,000 heat-resistant tiles that had to be installed individually by hand. These tiles were incredibly lightweight, about the density of balsa wood, and were designed to be used for 100 missions before requiring replacement. Each tile could dissipate heat so quickly that a white-hot tile with a temperature of 2,300 degrees F could be taken from an oven and held in bare hands seconds later without injury.
The space shuttle contained all the greatest scientific and engineering skill of modern man. All of the world’s greatest technology is represented in this one spaceship. Yet all this power that rocketed the craft into orbit is nothing compared to the space vehicle God is designing for the redeemed.
The Bible says that when Christ returns, those who belong to Him will all be caught up into the clouds to meet Him in the air, an event infinitely more thrilling than taking a trip on the space shuttle. Can you imagine soaring across the glorious universe with the Creator of it all? Talk about the ride of a lifetime!
