That phrase from Psalm 8 popped into my mind as I started to read this item. This story from the National Catholic Register fixes its gaze on the heavens — and on a side of Catholicism we rarely read about: Catholics in space.

Take a look:

Oct. 1, 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration — better known as NASA — began operations. Several Catholics who came to work at the new administration saw their work in space exploration as part of their life’s vocation to go to heaven.

In recent years, space shuttle astronauts Thomas Jones, Kevin Chilton, Sid Gutierrez and Bob Cabana have carried on the tradition.

Jones is one of few who have spoken openly about his faith. He authored the 2006 book, Sky Walking: An Astronaut’s Memoir.

As one of six crew members aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, Jones spent spare time reading the Bible, praying his Rosary, and even received the Eucharist while in space.

In a 2004 article, Jones recounted receiving the Eucharist on the shuttle’s flight deck.

“Kevin shared the body of Christ with Sid and me, and we floated weightless on the flight deck, grateful for this moment of comradeship and communion with Christ,” wrote Jones. “Our silent reflection was interrupted by a sudden burst of dazzling white light. The sun had risen just as we finished Communion, and now its pure radiance streamed through Endeavour’s cockpit windows and bathed us in its warmth … I rolled away from my crewmates, unable to stem the tears evoked by that singular sunrise.”

The Catholic character of astronauts has persevered, despite the fact that NASA does not provide a Catholic chaplain.

“They call on people like us,” said Msgr. Thomas Bevan, pastor of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Cumberland, Md.

Msgr. Bevan served as Jones’ childhood pastor and remains a friend. When Jones was preparing for his first space flight, he invited Msgr. Bevan down to the launch. There, on the beach near the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Msgr. Bevan led a prayer service for the astronauts and their families.

He said that the service seemed to bring a great deal of comfort to Jones and his wife.

“Tom’s wife was scared to death. She got sick to her stomach. That’s what the spouses live with,” said Msgr. Bevan. “The prayer service helped to place it in context.”

“I went away from the prayer service with a lot of my worries lifted away,” agreed Jones.

Several other priests have served this “space flock.”

Between 1977 and 1996, Father Tom Butler, a Carmelite priest, served NASA employees and astronauts at St. Bernadette’s Church in Houston. After the space shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, Father Butler organized an ecumenical service with other ministers in town.

Father Butler made astronaut and parishioner Bob Cabana an extraordinary minister of holy Communion prior to his shuttle flight.

“After that, if a parishioner was going up, I would make them a Eucharistic minister,” said Father Butler.

There’s much are at the Register link, so visit there for the rest.

Photo: Astronaut Tom Jones.