U.S. Astronaut Says His Time in Space ‘Magnifies My Lord’

Published: January 6, 2026

Getty Images-2156180680 — CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA – JUNE 05: NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test Commander Butch Wilmore (L) and Pilot Suni Williams walk out of the Operations and Checkout Building on June 05, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The astronauts are heading to Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which sits atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at Space Launch Complex 41 for NASA’s Boeing crew flight test to the International Space Station. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

By Movieguide® Staff

Astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore reflected on how his time in space increased his Christian faith.

“I did not need to go to space to learn about my Lord and savior Jesus Christ,” he told Fox News. “With that in mind, looking at the grandeur of this Earth that Isaiah says the Lord designed and made and created to be inhabited, and looking at it from that vantage point, gives me such an appreciation…it just magnifies my Lord.”

Wilmore was one of the people onboard the 2024 Boeing Starliner mission that was initially intended to be two weeks; instead, he and Sunita “Suni” Williams were in space for over nine months.

“I can go and give so many examples from scripture of how the Lord worked providentially in situations that looked really bad, and not only see that in scripture, but I see it in experience, in my life,” Wilmore explained. “And I can only see that and understand it because He gives me the ability to.”

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The astronaut often speaks about his faith. In an interview with Rapzilla, Wilmore was asked what life lessons he took away from his time in orbit.

“My feeling on all of this goes back to my faith,” he said. “It’s bound in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ he is working out his plan and his purposes for his glory throughout all of humanity and how that plays into our lives is significant and important, and however that plays out I am content because I understand that. I understand that He’s at work in all things. Somethings are for the good. Go to Hebrews 11, some things look to us to be not so good but it all works out for his good for those that will believe.”

Earlier this year, Wilmore officially retired from NASA after 25 years with the space organization.

“From my earliest days, I have been captivated by the marvels of creation, looking upward with an insatiable curiosity,” he said in a statement announcing his retirement.

“This curiosity propelled me into the skies, and eventually to space, where the magnificence of the cosmos mirrored the glory of its creator in ways words can scarcely convey,” added Wilmore. “Even as I ventured beyond Earth’s limits, I remained attuned to the beauty and significance of the world below, recognizing the same intricate design evident among the stars is also woven into the fabric of life at home.”

Wilmore might have spent a little more time in space than he bargained for, but for the astronaut, it gave him a new appreciation for God’s creations.

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