Texas History Minute

were so complicated that the astronaut, flight director, and the army of engineers behind it all had to trust one another Because he insisted on having the last word with any aspect of the mission, he often clashed with senior NASA administrators and astronauts

In spite of the preparation and expertise, each mission had special problems that could have turned these flights into deadly tragedies The coordination that Kraft developed inspired the creative thinking and expert analyses needed to avoid disaster

The Gemini and Apollo missions required a more advanced flight control center, leading to the creation of what is now the Lyndon B Johnson Space Center in Houston in 1963 Kraft joined the move and became a permanent resident With the continuing success of the space program, Kraft became almost as famous as the astronauts themselves In 1966, his home town of Hampton, Virginia, named its new elementary school in his honor

NASA moved him into more senior positions with the Apollo lunar missions. Ultimately, NASA promoted him to director of the Manned Spacecraft Center in 1972

In the 1970s, Kraft helped develop the conceptual design for the space shuttle With NASA reaching new heights in manned exploration, the shuttle seemed the next logical step Kraft and others at NASA fully believed that lunar exploration would become increasingly common and that the shuttle would bring astronauts to a future orbiting space station Then other craft would take them to the Moon, Mars, and beyond NASA projected it would send men to Mars by 1985 before a wave of budget cuts ended lunar landings after 1972

In spite of the cutbacks, Kraft kept NASA’s focus on the mission of exploration He oversaw the first four shuttle launches in 1981 and 1982, inspiring many Americans with the nation’s return to manned flight The success of the shuttle missions showed the importance of astronomical discoveries and the importance of studying the effects of zero gravity environments By 1982, he decided it was time to retire from NASA

Still only 58 years old, Kraft worked for several years as a consultant He also worked for the Houston Chamber of Commerce

Kraft spent several years travelling and speaking about space exploration He wrote his autobiography, Flight: My Life in Mission Control in 2001, reflecting on the development of the space program and his thoughts about its future In 2011, NASA renamed the flight control room at the Lyndon B Johnson Space Center after him Though he had never been a pilot or astronaut himself, the Aviation Hall of Fame inducted him in 2016

He died in Houston this past July It was pointed out by many observers that his passing was just days after the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, one of the all-time milestones of human exploration

Dr. Bridges is a Texas native, writer, and history professor He can be reached at drkenbridges@gmail.com.

Knowing God is the key to trusting him

The Biblical account of David and Goliath is one of most popular stories from the Bible You remember that Israel and the Philistines were enemies as this true account finds them preparing for battle, but also in somewhat of a strange standoff The two armies were gathered on opposite sides of a large valley, but instead of getting it over with, the Philistines had been sending out one of their most intimidating warriors to mock and make fun of the Israel’s army and even God himself His name was Goliath and he was truly a giant as some scholars have estimated that he stood between 9 and 10 feet tall Fully dressed in battle armor, Goliath dared any man from Israel to challenge him Everyone was terrified and not even the highly respected king Saul dared to step forward It’s recorded in First Samuel chapter 17 where Goliath said, “Choose your best soldier to come out and fight me! If he can kill me, our people will be your slaves But if I kill him, your people will be our slaves ”

Holland the young boy was just being negative and stirring up strife King Saul was told about the young lad and he sent for him as he wanted to speak with him When he approached the king David said, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him ” As the story continues, Saul was no doubt impressed with this boy’s enthusiasm, but tried to explain that David did not really understand the situation David told how he had killed a lion and a bear while watching over his father’s sheep and was very good with a sling As the Lord had helped him be victorious in times of great danger, he was positive that God would also help him kill this giant Amazingly Saul agreed. response that is developed from our everyday experiences with the Lord The Lord had never failed David and he was filled with confidence that with God nothing was impossible The Philistine army ran away in terror because this young boy decided to stop telling God how big his problems were and started telling his problems how big God is Today, the good news is that we can do the same

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Verse of the Week

Our hero David was the youngest of his father’s twelve sons and while his older brothers were called to join the military, David was considered too young and was needed to stay home and do chores His dad Jesse would regularly send him to the front lines with food for his brothers and he would bring back news about what was happening One day David heard the giant teasing and taunting the soldiers of Israel and started asking the men about what the giant was saying David stood boldly and challenged the men and was asking, “how can you allow this to happen, don’t you have any pride?” His oldest brother overheard David talking and became angry thinking that

David was offered all types of armor and weapons, but he only wanted his sling He searched in a nearby stream and found five smooth stones and placed them in his shepherd bag To make a long story short, Goliath was evidently offended that Israel would send a child out to fight against one of the fiercest warriors in the world The giant was laughing, but David was focused as he loaded his sling with one of the stones he is quoted as announcing, “This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel ” As David declared that he was representing the name of the Lord Almighty, he placed a stone in his sling and when he let it go, the rock sank deep into the giant’s forehead and he fell on his face like a huge tree crashing to the ground. David then picked up Goliath’s sword and cut off his head just like he had promised Yes, this is an exciting and inspirational story, but how can we demonstrate courage when we are surrounded by fear and our circumstances seem overwhelming? The bottom line is that David trusted God because he knew him personally. You see, faith is a learned behavior and a positive