Some years ago, a significant crisis unfolded when the Samoan Government aligned Samoa's time with New Zealand's. This decision posed a challenge for a denomination that observed Saturday as the Sabbath, as they were now faced with the question of which day truly represented the Sabbath.

So how would the Church adapt its liturgical calendar if we colonised Mars or the moon?"

Humans are biologically designed to have a wake-sleep cycle synced with Earth's day-night cycle. If we're in an environment where the day-night cycle radically differs from what we're programmed to work with, we ignore it.

For instance, the International Space Station goes around the earth in about forty-five minutes, meaning the astronauts on board get twenty-two minutes of light and twenty-two minutes of dark. There's no way they want to fall asleep every twenty-two minutes and then wake up twenty-two minutes later for the duration of their mission.

There wouldn't be a need to change the liturgical calendar on Mars because Mars is very close to the Earth. It's only a few light minutes away, so even if their Sunday slides are a few hours from Sunday on Earth (because of the difference in the day lengths), you can still approximate that. So, they would still have the same kind of Sunday cycle, they could still celebrate Christmas and Easter at the same times, and so on.

But what if you go further afield—like out of our solar system? In that case, there's no easy way to communicate with earth because of the light-speed limit. The local church in this other solar system may develop its own liturgical calendar based on the local planetary rotation period.

It's not going to happen soon so don't worry too much. Read more

He took with him a pyx with six consecrated hosts broken into four pieces.

It was enough so that he could take Communion once a week for the 24 weeks he was aboard the ISS. Continue reading

As tributes continued to pour in on Sunday for the former astronaut who died aged 82 there were also expressions of regret that no human has been back to the moon since 1972, just three years after Armstrong set foot on it and gave his famous "giant leap for mankind" speech.

Elliot Pulham, chief executive of the Space Foundation, decried today's lack of backing for America's space agency Nasa, compared with the vast resources devoted to the moon landings programme in the 1960s.

"In this age of timid exploration goals and paltry Nasa budgets, Armstrong looms as a larger-than-life reminder of what our nation was once capable of," he said. Pulham said the real life drama of Armstrong's moon landing - watched by a fifth of the world's population - was unlikely to be repeated now except fictionally in a summer blockbuster.

He said: "In an age when Hollywood and professional sports manufacture so-called 'heroes', Armstrong exemplified the right stuff. He was the real deal."

Armstrong died on Saturday following heart problems that ensued after he underwent bypass surgery near his Ohio home earlier this month. His recovery had been thought to be going well, and his death came as a surprise to many.

A statement released by his family gave few details, but spoke of a "reluctant American hero" and said to those who might want to pay tribute to him: "Honour his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink." Read more

Sources