Space Tourist

“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]

Who would spend $20 million for a one-week vacation? Sixty-yearold Dennis Tito did with no regrets. In fact, you could say his vacation was literally “out of this world” after he became the first private citizen to visit the International Space Station. Dennis started his career as a space scientist, designing flight paths in the 1960s for three historic Mars missions. He then worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena for five years. He left to set up a private finance company, Wilshire Associates, where he made his fortune. But Dennis never lost his love for the heavens.

On April 28, 2001, after years of negotiations and red tape, Dennis Tito was chauffeured by two cosmonauts in their Soyuz TM-32 spacecraft to the International Space Station. Tito spent 7 days, 22 hours, 4 minutes in space and orbited Earth 128 times, making him the first private citizen to purchase a trip into space. (I wonder if he booked his vacation on the Orbitz website?) Some reports say Tito paid $20 million for his trip, becoming the world’s first space tourist. While in space Dennis performed several scientific experiments that he said would be useful for his company and business. Dennis was sorry his vacation could only last a week. Since Tito’s historic vacation in space he has testified before several government agencies in the U.S. on “Commercial Human Spaceflight.”

Did you know the Bible teaches it is now possible for you to book a journey through space that will last for eons? The good news is that the travel arrangements are already paid in full. In speaking of the assurance of the return of Christ to take us to heaven, Paul writes, “Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee” (2.Corinthians 5:5).

There is a ticket for the ultimate spaceflight to heaven. It has been paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. It can be yours if you will accept it.