Amazing grace...
Jun. 2nd, 2003 07:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgp...and luck.
It turns out that the Russians arranged for the launch vehicle to be visited by a pair of Orthodox priests, who blessed the hardware and the enterprise. When the Americans heard this was going to take place, they asked permission to be present and to photograph the blessing. Permission was granted, which thus meant that just about anyone with a camera could take a picture.
Unlike many such ceremonies one might see in the states, this was actually a mini-service, with the clergy singing the service a capella. I was not able to understand any of the service, but then again, if the service was being read in Old Church Slavonic, that would be expected. Once the service was largely concluded, the senior of the two priests (I presume they were both priests) grabbed a container of holy water and a sort of brush with which to dispense the water, and proceeded to fling brushfuls of water at the rocket.
Here's my best picture of the priest dispensing holy water in the direction of the Proton:
Once the clergy finished blessing the hardware, they blessed the wetware:
And since the folks I was with had to go and check the reading on the battery box, I managed to keep my camera out for this:
There's only an hour and a half until the bus leaves for the Mars Express launch, so I'm going to cut this post short. Once I get back, I'll have to get some quick shuteye for a long day tomorrow, escorting the vehicle to the pad.
Cheers...
It turns out that the Russians arranged for the launch vehicle to be visited by a pair of Orthodox priests, who blessed the hardware and the enterprise. When the Americans heard this was going to take place, they asked permission to be present and to photograph the blessing. Permission was granted, which thus meant that just about anyone with a camera could take a picture.
Unlike many such ceremonies one might see in the states, this was actually a mini-service, with the clergy singing the service a capella. I was not able to understand any of the service, but then again, if the service was being read in Old Church Slavonic, that would be expected. Once the service was largely concluded, the senior of the two priests (I presume they were both priests) grabbed a container of holy water and a sort of brush with which to dispense the water, and proceeded to fling brushfuls of water at the rocket.
Here's my best picture of the priest dispensing holy water in the direction of the Proton:
Once the clergy finished blessing the hardware, they blessed the wetware:
And since the folks I was with had to go and check the reading on the battery box, I managed to keep my camera out for this:
There's only an hour and a half until the bus leaves for the Mars Express launch, so I'm going to cut this post short. Once I get back, I'll have to get some quick shuteye for a long day tomorrow, escorting the vehicle to the pad.
Cheers...
