Astronaut Says He Had Religious Experience During Spacewalk

It's easy to imagine a spacewalk being crazy or frightening, but for one American, it was a religious experience.

In an interview with Kingsport, Tennessee's Times-News paper, Barry "Butch" Wilmore talked about a spiritual experience he had while fixing an issue on the outside of the International Space Station.

While on the exterior of the space station, Wilmore encountered a huge, reflective, out-of-use radiators that he hadn't expected. When he was done with his job, he was faced with himself and the entire space.

The astronauts said that he came around the corner and boom, there he was. I was able to see myself in the mirror. I had never seen myself in a space suit before. You don't have mirrors that show what you're looking at. I watched the video of me. It was nice to see that it was me.

He peered into his face in space for the first time. He looked at the station again.

Wilmore said it was a very black sky with the sun shining contrasting with the beauty of the earth. I looked down at the ground and saw Hawaii going by.

It's amazing, it's sensory overload, and it's fascinating. I looked back at that guy in the reflection in the car and wondered how he got here.

According to the Times-News, Wilmore is a Christian and he told the paper that he felt like a religious being.

Wilmore said that he was there because the Lord allowed him to be there. I was there to explain that.

In the rarefied environment of a spacewalk, the idea of feeling purpose and seeing yourself clearly is one to be envied.

The current Tennessee astronauts is a Christian.

There are more larger-than-life experiences on the International Space Station.