On the evening of June 12, 2023, the Spei Satelles mission aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket successfully lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The announcement was not a trivial one: the world's smallest state, with the help of the Italian space agency, was able to launch into orbit its CubeSat, a satellite carrying a “nanobook” of Pope Francis, printed in the form of micro-engravings.
A powerful message
"Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?" is the title of the text sent into space. It is taken from the Gospel of Mark as cited during the famous Urbi et Orbi blessing of March 27, 2020, held in an empty St Peter's Square during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The mission of this satellite, blessed by the Argentine pontiff and designed to last between 6 months and a year, was to broadcast extracts from the speech in English, Spanish, and Italian, via a radio signal at a frequency of 437.5 MHz.
As the first pope whose voice was carried into space, Pope Francis has also spoken out about other astronomical achievements in a way that resonates with current events. In one speech, he referred to "the marvelous images sent from the James Webb Space Telescope" which amaze us. "Once the Vera Rubin Observatory becomes operative we expect to see how the universe continues to expand and change before our eyes," he added, as the largest camera ever built for astrophysics neared completion.
Talking with astronauts on the ISS
Like his predecessor Benedict XVI, the Argentinian also spoke with the crew—of expeditions 52 and 53—of the International Space Station (ISS) in 2017. From a lounge adjoining the Paul VI Hall, he was able to ask the astrophysicists questions. The successor of Peter inquired in particular about their "thoughts on man's place in the universe." During the somewhat capricious connection, subject to the vagaries of long distances, the man in white let the major themes of his pontificate shine through: unity in diversity, joy, wonder...
In 2023, in a message to participants at the Vatican Observatory's astrophysics summer school, he also urged them not to lose "this sense of wonder." He warned these promising young people against the great temptation “to obtain only those responses that we already expected, and not to let ourselves be surprised by new and unforeseen discoveries."
