To this day, there is a 68-year-old Episcopal pastor who leads the congregation in St. Episcopal Church. Albana in Glen Bernie, Maryland.
It has long been found that science and humanities, without mentioning science and religion, are mutually incomprehensible areas that approach completely different issues. This idea has been distorted in recent years as educators have led to an intermediate approach.
Graduate as a geographer, in other fields, Conrad’s views differ.
“There is no conflict between science and religion,” he said. “They both explore the wonder of the world and our place in it.”
Rocks and people
Crossing the boundaries of order is not easy, and not just for pioneers who have to overcome institutional opposition.
John Maida, a former professor, graphic designer and computer worker at the MIT Media Lab, says, “The education system forces students to be scientists or humanists. He does not recognize that the same spirit and some similar techniques come under art and science. ”He once told me
“Our goal is to create people who are disciplined about the issue from the Renaissance, Da Vinci who can do everything he is interested in.”
“I read everything,” Conrad said. A brief look at his credentials reveals what Da Vinci Maida was talking about.
He holds all degrees from George Washington University in the US capital. He started as a musician, who also smoked geography. He completed several science courses in the first year and a half He later earned a master’s degree in music and later a bachelor’s degree in music in 1974 – She considered a career as an opera singer – in 1987. He returned to science in 1998 to complete his doctorate in geography.
Understanding this “terminal” phase is interesting for how life develops without people living like deep heat holes in the ocean floor. Thanks to the right places, the right moment, he says, he was given the opportunity to meet James Cameron, the famous director who built the submarine research ship with proceeds from films like “Titanic”. Thanks to the deep-sea images Cameron shot for the 3D Imax film, the images he later used in the science fiction feature of “Avatar” show hot vents that a researcher had never seen before. Details.
One year after graduating with a doctorate, NASA – Curiosity is looking for scientists working on the geography of the vehicle – hired him – Contractor at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory run by the California Institute of Technology.
“We’re trying to understand if the process of growth and prosperity of life on Earth ever happened on Mars. If it did, we would like to know if life has appeared – if not? Why not?” He recently told his alumni magazine interviewer. This is a question that is being answered seriously today as it was done when it was first recruited in 1999.
Return to Spirit – and Return to Mars
It wasn’t until later In his life Conrad returned to religious studies. After experiencing a revelation on windy days on a business trip to Antarctica, he rejoined the Episcopal Church in his youth and later attended the Episcopal School of the Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Like a school member at Union Theological Seminary in New York, he completed his master’s degree in divinity in 2017. Soon, he commanded his Maryland congregation.
NASA at the same time selected to be included in one of its experiments when the Mars diligence rover increased heat in the mission. This is a set of tools called Sherlock (scanning the living environment with luminescence for Raman and organics and chemicals), which is “not mature enough to find space for previous trips,” he said.
Its mission is to search for microbial life using instruments that include vibration spectrometers that can detect minerals and organic molecules found on the surface of Mars – such as hydrogen and carbon, which are the basic building blocks of life on Earth. This includes two high resolution cameras.
“The whole team mix includes a great number of individuals, and I am the only person on this team,” he said.
However, the search for life on Mars is no longer a high priority for him.
“I want to make that clear,” Conrad said. “My first job and my first responsibility now is to be a pastor in a church. What you see on Sunday is part of it. I have responsibilities for my church and their needs, and ultimately for the people.” Come first. People are more gentle than rocks. “
Nevertheless, he spends a lot of time in his part-time role today. In some cases, Mars has been working from his home office since the Covid 19 epidemic. The schedule is tough and two tasks should definitely stop It can be a little tiring.
Tired or not, she wants to work as a priest and give some lessons. Most importantly, Conrad insisted, the purity of everything.
“Understanding that this is one of the tools people need to live a good life, to live in a community, to behave well. I think my second lesson is to go slow, to live a quieter and more caring life. It is the virtue of living.”
Epidemic, he says, has created the perfect opportunity to think about it and deepen its work with these lessons.
Forward to the stars
His research has expanded to include an administrative role in his scientific work: The question of whether life can exist on other planets is, “If God could create life here, could God create it – could God create it – in another place? In answer to this question, Conrad said, “Of course.”
Life will probably be smooth and simple, but not the ET of our imagination. But it will be life, and it is this effort that keeps Conrad inspired and constantly engaged.
But will it ever enter space? Do not write.
Gregory Magnum From his home in Arizona, he writes about books, science, fir, geography and many other subjects.