From So Humble Beginnings...

Arthur Blessitt — who is famous for carrying a large wooden cross through every nation, traveling around the Earth 1½ times — devised a plan to launch a small cross made from his large one, along with a copy of the Bible on microfilm and two Jesus stickers, into a polar orbit so that it would pass over the heads of every person on the planet. He planned to accomplish this by piggy-backing on an orbital burial service offered through the private company Celestis, which sold space in small capsules for the cremated remains of people who presumably have chosen to not take part in the Rapture. These "cremain" capsules were then packed together in a satellite and launched aboard a private rocket. Blessitt purchased space in one of these capsules for his cross.

On August 3, 2008, the Falcon 1 rocket operated by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) carrying Blessitt's cross was successfully launched but failed to reach orbit, causing the loss of all payloads, including the cross. On his site, Blessitt expressed optimism over this partial success, saying: "However the cross from the cross I've carried around the world did go up 134 miles! Glory!" As of this writing he is waiting for more information from Space Services Inc., parent company of Celestis, on whether there will be another attempt on which he can again piggy-back.

When the MSM (Mainstream Secular Media) reported on Falcon 1's failure, they focused on the loss of the cremated remains of James Doohan, an actor who played "Scotty" on the Secular TV show Star Trek, rather than Blessitt's more important payload. In fact, the Media didn't report on the cross payload at all, either before or after the failed orbital delivery.

Besides general anti-Christian bias in the MSM that would incline them to ignore this important witnessing mission, I think part of the problem here stems from Blessitt's much too humble vision for the orbital cross. (Please understand, this is no real criticism of Blessitt himself. He is, after all, a humble man of humble means who could not afford to place a cross into orbit other than through his piggy-back plan. Also, his plan holds a very personal meaning to himself as his orbital cross was made from the burden that he carried for 40 years in emulation of our Lord.) Had the cross made it to orbit, being that it was only a couple of inches tall and inside a capsule inside a satellite, it would have been unseeable and would not have impressed the few unsaved people aware of it, much less the billions who would never have known it was there.

In order to really get the unsaved world's attention, an orbital cross project must be on a grander scale — one that, even in failure, would demand acknowledgement (and would open the door for witnessing). Therefore, I propose that Blessitt's plan be expanded and enlarged into a truly monumental project that I call Orbital Cross Alpha (OCA).

Orbital Cross Alpha: A Bolder Vision

I propose launching into polar orbit a cross of significant dimensions, with a sun-reflecting surface that will be easily visible in the night sky to the naked eyes of unbelievers. This space-age testimonial will fly over Communist China, Mussulmanned Saudi Arabia, Hindooed India, Godless France, and all other nations in need of the simple yet profound message of Christ's sacrifice and His offer of Salvation. All the people of the world will see it shine, like a beacon of hope on the runway of the aircraft carrier of the night sky, an omnipresent reminder of the Lordship of Jesus over our world.

Unlike Mr. Blessitt's plan, mine will require a more elaborate cross design and access to more costly launch services, as it would necessarily require multiple single-payload launches. Fortunately I feel that my connections within the Department of Defense will help bring this plan to fruition.

Orbital Cross Alpha Design:



Potential design of Orbital Cross Alpha, with approaching Space Shuttle. Potential design of Orbital Cross Alpha, with approaching Space Shuttle.

In order to be viewable and identifiable as a cross to the naked eye, my calculations show that OCA will need to be at least 1000 feet along its main axis and 500 feet along the perpendicular, and placed into Medium Earth Orbit (between 1,243 and 22,236 miles; dimensions will need to be increased for visibility at higher orbits). By being at MEO, it will be high enough to catch and reflect the Sun's light throughout the entire night.

To achieve this great size while minimizing costs and enabling the parts to fit inside a minimum number of launch vehicles, its surface will be constructed of collapsible panels applying the same technology used to deploy solar arrays on satellites or space stations. A skeletal framework will be first assembled in a lower orbit from expandable sections delivered by rocket. This will require EVAs by astronaut technicians, who will arive at the construction site via shuttle, using the ISS as a base of operation. After the skeleton is finished, a series of collapsible panels will be attached to it, as will booster rockets that will deliver it to its final position in MEO. Once there, the panels will be unfurled to produce the final, brilliant surface.

The panels will serve a dual purpose of both reflecting sunlight to the Earth and acting as solar power generators for the onboard systems. Due to the large surface area and minimum energy needs, only a handful of the panels will need to be photovoltaic, the rest can be purely reflective (or alternately, photovoltaic elements can be sparsely placed over all the panels, whichever the engineers decide to be most efficient).

The electrical systems will include computer and control systems necessary for repositioning the cross should it need to avoid orbital debris, and also to realign it so as to aim its reflected glory at target nations during times of spiritual warfare. (Imagine, if you will, a pitched battle between our brave forces and the Islamofascists, when, seemingly out of nowhere, a giant reflection of a cross sweeps across the battlefield. At that moment of revelation the Islamofascists will see the error of their ways, drop their arms, and surrender — not to Islam, but to Christ! Bloodshed averted and new souls won. Such will be the power of Orbital Cross Alpha.)

Excess power could be used to run a communications package that would broadcast patriotic hymns and inspirational sermons 24/7 in multiple languages, receivable with a simple radio, providing additional information to the unsaved who see the cross in their sky and want to learn more about our Lord.

Putting OCA into Orbit:



An Air Force Delta rocket launches into space. A Similar vehicle could deliver a payload of Good News to the world. An Air Force Delta rocket launches into space. A Similar vehicle could deliver a payload of Good News to the world.

As stated, getting the parts into orbit for assembly will require multiple, dedicated launches. There are a number of options available, but most can be ruled out: we will not use NASA, as they are infested with Darwinists vehemently opposed to any program that would acknowledge God's creation; foreign launch services are out of the question, as they might employ anti-Christian subcontractors who would seek to sabotage the mission (perhaps by slyly substituting American measurements with their queer metricisms so that the parts of the cross do not fit together properly — or worse, end up forming the Mussulman's crescent); private payload launch companies, such as SpaceX, are not as far along in their technology and have a poor success rate; and Blackwater's Aerospace Force, although promising, is unfortunately still in its infancy.

I believe that the best option — the only option that makes sense, really — is to use the launch vehicles maintained by the US Air Force. Unlike NASA, the USAF is solidly committed to the mandate of Christianity. With both Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) and the Air Force Academy located within the sphere of influence of numerous Christian outreach organizations in Colorado Springs, we can be sure that the OCA program will be made Priority One. We have been bringing up Air Force cadets with strong training in Evangelism for precisely this sort of mission; now is the time for them to show what a fully Christianized Air Force can accomplish.

While most in the civilian sector are unaware of this (in no small part due to national security concerns,) the Air Force has a space program that is larger than that of NASA. AFSPC has at its disposal spacelift vehicles more than capable for a mission such as OCA, including Atlas and Delta platforms. They also have the experience to assure mission success, having launched hundreds of satellites and other more sensitive payloads over the decades (the Air Force's Delta rockets have an impressive 95% success rate).

Furthermore, for the EVA missions needed to complete OCA assembly, what better occasion than the construction of an orbital cross to finally officially reveal the existence of the military-grade space shuttles — smaller and more agile than their cumbersome civilian counterparts — that AFSPC has been flying since the early '90s. Air Force Shuttle Providence could not have been more providentially named.

Funding:

Some may argue that this is not something the Defense Department should be involved with, that with our current war stance and multi-theater global operations to fight Terror and spread freedom we should not be spending taxpayer money on such a thing. To these people I say: You could not be more wrong.

Orbital Cross Alpha will be an integral part of our campaign to win the hearts and souls of the unsaved people who are at risk, through their ignorance of the Gospel, of becoming terrorists, and is therefore necessary for our national defense and to win the War on Terror. The more would-be terrorists we can convert into peaceful Christians, the less there will be to threaten our nation and our families, and the more allies we will have in our crusade. As the old boot-camp chant goes: "No Jesus, no peace; Know Jesus, know peace." And what better way to let everyone know Jesus than to put His sacrifice on display in the Heavens for all to see — and where Islamofascist and Secularist regimes can't hide it from their cowed citizenry. We will secure peace by securing a place for Jesus in the night sky. Therefore, it is imperative that funding for OCA should be added to the DoD's counterterrorism and psyops budget.

Besides using Defense funds, Orbital Cross Alpha should also be funded out of NASA's budget. President Bush has already started the process of moving our nation away from NASA's Darwinistic space program — which seeks to prove the Godless "Big Bang" and laughable "microbes to Marsmen" theories — towards a program based on righteous Interplanetary Manifest Destiny. The planned bases on the Moon and Mars are important for the future conquest of our solar system, but we have no real need for space telescopes and the like. After all, anything we need to know about the extrasolar Heavens can be discovered via Biblical exegetics. If not being diverted to our Moon and Mars base missions, funds used for these pointlessly unbiblical, and socially unhealthy, programs would be better spent on a giant orbital cross. And if we must, we can always slap a zooming camera on the back of it and call it a "space telescope platform" to appease the foolish interests of the star-obsessed unbelievers at NASA.

Conclusions:

The goal of an orbital cross is attainable; we have the technology, the vision, and the faith to do it. It is only a matter of our Christian leadership seizing the initiative and making it so.

I will not lie to you and say it will be easy or cheap, but the one thing that it will be is necessary. Islam is the fastest growing religion on the planet, followed only by the nihilism of Secularism. The Satanic forces of anti-Christianism are mustering on the horizon, planning their siege of this stronghold of Faith, America. Of course, we cannot lose this war, for God is on our side and has foretold our victory, but that is no excuse for laziness. This is the End Times, people! It will happen only once. This is what we will be talking about for the rest of eternity, so lets not embarrass ourselves with a slapdash effort. We must make our stand in this epic battle for the souls of Mankind and we must make our stand one that will shock and awe our enemy.

Orbital Cross Alpha will be both shocking and awesome.

Update - 8/27/2009:

I am happy to report that my call for Christian manifest destiny in space has emboldened others to launch the Great Commission into orbit.

The Cross on the Moon Foundation (COM) is a newly formed, non-profit organization dedicated to advocate, design, and implement the placement of a Christian Cross on the surface of Earth's Moon in 2011. Besides setting their goals on the Moon instead of Medium Earth Orbit, their plan differs from mine in that they will acquire passage for the Cross aboard a private spacecraft. As of this writing they are still developing the details of the Lunar Cross -- two leading candidates include a gold plated one that would be visible from a live HD video feed and one formed from a constellation of reflective targets that would be illuminated by earthbound lasers to make it visible to the naked eye -- and the transfer mechanism they will use to plant it into the Moon's surface.

I do not see their plan as a competitor to my own. Rather, it will be one of the many Crosses that will fill the Heavens to proclaim the Glory of our Lord to all spacefarers of the future. We need Crosses not only in MEO and on the Moon, but on every planet, satellite (natural or otherwise), asteroid, space station, and Lagrange point in our Solar System. No quadrant of our system should be left bereft of the sign of His Sacrifice. Therefore, I welcome COM's participation in this, Mankind's greatest pre-Rapture adventure.

Also, given that our current non-Christian Commander in Chief does not share in our common creed and consequently will hinder military involvement in Witnessing Missions such as I propose, COM might represent our best opportunity to place a Cross in the heavens before we retake the government in 2012. But fear not; my contacts in the Palin camp confirm that she will be solidly behind OCA when the time comes.