Spaceflight and the Separation of Church and State

Abstract

Instances of religious expression by astronauts aboard NASA spacecraft present a unique encounter between American space policy and legal jurisprudence. The agency must adjudicate between its reticence to restrict astronauts' religious action with its responsibility to protect the constitutional separation between church and state. Though NASA won a suit filed by an atheist activist in 1969, it has not always taken proper consideration of the dangers of astronauts' religious expression. As it seeks a sustained human presence in outer space, NASA should form a policy regarding its responsibility to provide religious accommodation for current and future astronauts.

Notes

This phrase was introduced by Thomas Jefferson in an 1802 letter, Philip Hamburger, Separation of Church and State (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002), 1.

Harlen Makemson, Media, NASA, and America's Quest for the Moon (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2009), 44–47.

Hugh L. Dryden, “Spiritual Leadership in the Space Age,” Commencement Address, Drew University, Madison, NJ, 6 June 1960, NASA Historical Reference Collection, Record #46559.

Jane Howard, “Madalyn Murray: Scrappy Atheist in a Hurry: The Most Hated Woman in America,” Life Magazine, 19 June 1964, 91; and Mary Tatum, “Atheist Crusader: ‘Thank God We Have My Big Mouth,’” The Washington Post, 12 January 1969, 174.

Buzz Aldrin with Ken Abraham, Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon (New York: Harmony Books, 2009), 26–27.

Interestingly, newspaper reports do not mention the wine Aldrin brought aboard, presumably because he kept this fact secret. See Associated Press, “Bread from Aldrin's Church is Aboard for Communion,” The Sun, 21 July 1969, A4; and Associated Press, “Aldrin Carries Communion Bread with Him to the Moon,” Chicago Tribune, 21 July 1969, A12. For Aldrin's personal reflections on his decision to take communion, see Aldrin, Magnificent Desolation, 25–27; and Aldrin, “Lunar Dust Smelled Just Like Gunpowder,” in “The Astronauts—Their Own Great Stories,” Life Magazine 67:8 (22 August 1969): 27.

United Press International, “Court Asked to Ban Space Prayers,” Boston Globe, 25 November 1969, 15.

O'Hair v. Paine, W.D.Tex. 1969, 312 F. Supp. 434.

Ibid.; O'Hair v. Paine, 432 F. 2d 66, Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, 1970; and O'Hair v. Paine, 397 US 531, Supreme Court, 1970.

United Press International, “Court Asked to Ban Space Prayers,” (note 7).

The question of microfiche Bibles on the moon (3) is addressed elsewhere in this special issue of Astropolitics.

Roger D. Launius, “Heroes in a Vacuum: The Apollo Astronaut as Cultural Icon,” Florida Historical Quarterly 87:2 (Fall 2008): 186, 193–194.

On the conflict of the Free Exercise and Establishment clauses, see Kent Greenawalt, Religion and the Constitution: Volume 2: Establishment and Fairness (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008), 336–351.

On courts' balancing between the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses, see Brian Richards, “The Boundaries of Religious Speech in the Government Workplace,” University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor and Employment Law, Vol. 1 (1997–1998), 747–750, 757–760.

The information on Sultan Al Saud's religious observance aboard Discovery was collected from a July 2011 interview with Michel Martin of National Public Radio (NPR). See NPR Staff, “Praying Toward Mecca …. In Outer Space,” 12 July 2011, http://www.npr.org/2011/07/12/137790385/praying-toward-mecca-in-outer-space (accessed November 2012).

The earliest discussions of Jewish law and spaceflight that this author has been able to locate are: Azriel Rozenfeld, “Sabbath in the Space Age,” Tradition 7:1 (Winter 1964–1965): 27–33; and Immanuel Jakobovitz, “Mitzvah Observance for Space Travelers,” Tradition 8:2 (Summer 1966): 83–85.

Many of these arguments are presented in the articles previously cited, as well as in: J. David Bleich, Contemporary Halakhic Problems (New York: Yeshiva University Press, 1977), 211–212; and Yehuda Levi; Facing Current Challenges: Essays on Judaism (Jerusalem: Hemed Books, 1998) [English version of Mul Ethgarey HaTekufah, 1995], 291–293.

Clyde C. Cleveland, “Sabbath Keeping in the Space Age,” Ministry: International Journal for Pastors, July 1966, 10–12.

For the crew timelines of the astronauts aboard the International Space Station, see http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/timelines/index.html (accessed December 2012).

For a study of free exercise in the military and prisons, see Kent Greenawalt, Religion and the Constitution: Volume 1: Free Exercise and Fairness (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006), 157–171.

John P. Donnelly, Letter to Michael Terrigino, Rochester, NY, 2 November 1973, NASA History Office Archive, file 6742, “Impact: Religion (1972–1979).”