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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Catholic monastic XVI had a direct distinction to the heavens Saturday, with NASA's help.

Speaking from the Vatican, the pontiff given a historic blessing upon the 12 astronauts circling Earth during the first-ever Catholic call to space, desire a swift feat for the shuttle commander's injured legislator spouse and condolences for a send traveler mourning his mother's death.

The "extraordinary" conversation, as monastic described it, occurred after the Endeavour astronauts inspected a diminutive wound in the shuttle's belly, to secure their innocuous convey to Earth after outgoing the International Space Station in meet over a week. NASA after observed the damage display no danger to the next-to-last grace in the 30-year shuttle program.

Seated at a plateau before a broadcasting ordered tuned to NASA's springy broadcast from orbit, monastic told the expanse travelers that "you are our representatives spearheading humanity's expedition of newborn spaces and possibilities for our future." He said he admired their courage, discipline and commitment.

"It staleness be obvious to you how we every springy unitedly on digit Earth and how derisory it is that we fight and blackball each one," the pontiff said, reading from embattled remarks. "I undergo that Mark Kelly's spouse was a victim of a earnest attack, and I wish her upbeat continues to improve."

Kelly, who is of Irish-Catholic descent, thanked the pope for his category words. His wife, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, had surgery to bushel her skull Wednesday, quaternary months after existence effort in the head at a political circumstance in Tucson, Ariz. She was nearly killed, still managed to attend her husband's launch last Monday.

Kelly told the pope that borders cannot be seen from expanse and noted that downbound on Earth, grouping commonly fight for resources. At the expanse station, solar noesis provides unlimited energy, "and if those technologies could be adapted more on Earth, we could possibly reduce whatever of that violence," he said.

Benedict asked about the forthcoming of the follower and the environmental risks it faces, and wanted to undergo what the astronauts' most important communication would be for young grouping when they convey home.

Space send traveler Ronald Garan Jr. crosspiece of the paper-thin locate of atmosphere "that separates every experience abstract from the vacuum of space." And shuttle crewman Mike Fincke described how he and his colleagues "can countenance downbound and wager our bonny follower Earth that God has made."

"However, if we countenance up, we crapper wager the rest of the universe, and the rest of the aggregation is discover there for us to explore," Fincke said. "The International Space Station is meet digit symbol, digit example, of what manlike beings crapper do when we work unitedly constructively."

Near the modify of the 18-minute conversation, monastic expressed concern for traveler Paolo Nespoli, whose 78-year-old care died in northern Italy at the first of May patch he was bringing on the expanse station.

"How hit you been experience through this time of discompose on the International Space Station?" the pope asked.

"Holy Father, I change your prayers and everyone's prayers arriving up here where right the concern ... we hit a plus saucer to countenance at the Earth and we feel everything around us," Nespoli replied in Italian.

Nespoli module modify his five-month expanse send assignment Monday, backward to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule.

He module alter backwards with him a grayness ribbon that shuttle traveler Roberto Vittori took up with him on Endeavour, that was provided by the pope. It depicts Michelangelo's "Creation of Man," the craft on the cap of the Sistine Chapel.

Vittori floated the ceremonial coin in face of him, then gently tossed it to Nespoli, positioned on the oppositeness modify of the face bed of astronauts.

"I brought it with me to space, and he module verify downbound on Earth to then give backwards to you," Vittori told the pontiff. The traveler said he prays in expanse "for me, for our families, for our future."

The long-distance Catholic conference was unreal by the European Space Agency and the European Space Agency. NASA provided technical hold from Mission Control in Houston.

Inside the ancient frescoed halls of the residence — where e-mail wasn't even in panoramic ingest until a few eld past — the call was conventional with circumpolar awe.

The 84-year-old monastic chuckled when digit of the astronauts began floating up at the modify of the transmission. He waved to the U.S., European and Russian crew at the first and modify of the call.

The residence spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the call was grounds of the pope's desire to communicate with grouping still possible, be it sending a book communication with a request of the period or a YouTube steer playing church teachings.

Pope Apostle VI dispatched a acknowledgement to the slug with Apollo 11's Neil jazzman and Buzz Aldrin in 1969, but it was in a semiconductor round that contained goodwill messages from numerous countries and was left on the Sea of Tranquility. "I countenance up at your heavens, prefabricated by your fingers, at the slug and stars you ordered in place," said Apostle VI, quoting from Psalms 8.

Mission Control, meanwhile, was glowing. Flight controllers watched on monitors as the pope got ordered up for the interview.

"It was meet an amazing event, rattling a bonny event," said advance grace director Derek Hassmann.

Before assembling for the extra-special panjandrum call, the astronauts conducted an hour-long analyse of the defect in Endeavour's belly, using a 100-foot spreading boom.

Mission managers ordered the scrutiny as a precaution, locution there was no think to be alarmed by the damage generated by Monday's liftoff on Endeavour's test voyage. Experts on the ground directly analyzed the 3-D images beamed down, and concluded the shuttle is innocuous for re-entry.

The extra country checks were locate in locate mass the 2003 river disaster.

The defect — spanning digit or threesome tiles — measures meet 3 inches by 2.4 inches, and is inferior than an progress deep.

Similar damage was seen on a grace by Endeavour in 2007, and that, too, required no repair. By coincidence, that assignment was commanded by Kelly's same twin brother, Scott.

Still ahead for Kelly and his crew are threesome more spacewalks, the next digit on Sunday. Landing is regular for June 1.

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AP Writer Nicole Winfield contributed to this inform from residence City.

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Online:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

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