Marvel at the MoonSample

Think New Thoughts

“The weirdest looking contraption I have ever seen in the sky.” That’s what astronaut Michael Collins called the Apollo 11 Lunar Module (also known as the LM or the Eagle) 12. The LM didn’t look like a plane or a rocket. And even though it was named after a bird, the crew thought it looked more like a weird, alien bug!

Because the LM would do things no spacecraft had done before, engineers needed to get creative. They made it boxy to help it balance on the unknown surface of the Moon. Gold foil covered parts of it to keep temperatures safe for the astronauts. And those spindly legs? They folded up when the LM was attached to the main spacecraft and unfolded for landing on the Moon. To keep the spacecraft light, the LM didn’t have seats. Astronauts flew standing up using a new invention—Velcro—to anchor their shoes to the spacecraft’s floor.

The LM might have looked weird, but of the ten modules flown into space, not one of them failed. (Aquarius, the Apollo 13 LM, even served as the “life raft” for the crew and saved their lives.) The LM engineers had to think of new ways to do things.

That’s something God gave each of us the ability to do—think new thoughts. That means you’re not stuck thinking the same old thoughts or doing the same old things. For example, if you happen to find yourself alone for the afternoon, you don’t have to feel lonely or fill up the day watching videos. Instead, you can dream up ways to have fun by yourself. Invent a new game. Imagine a story. Write a letter to God. Create a work of art. Let your mind think of something new to do!

Lord, You gave me an amazing brain. Help me use it to think of new ways to show how much I love You. Amen.