Our Gemara on Amud Aleph gives us the midrashic backstory of the Tower of Bavel:

Rabbi Yirmeya bar Elazar says: They divided into three factions; one said: Let us ascend to the top of the tower and dwell there. And one said: Let us ascend to the top of the tower and engage in idol worship. And one said: Let us ascend to the top of the tower and wage war….

Rabbi Yoḥanan says: The uppermost third of the tower was burned, the lowermost third of the tower was swallowed into the earth, and the middle third remained intact.

Abravanel (Bereishis 11:1) explains that the three fates correspond to the three factions. The ones who wanted to fight God were utterly destroyed, and the idolaters were buried, while those who simply sought excessive security were allowed to remain intact to a degree. To my thinking, this represents the idea that the instinct for security and technological advancement is not entirely improper when enacted with humility and fear of God instead of arrogance.

Rav Yonasan Eibshutz (Tiferes Yehonasan, Noach) famously suggested that the Tower was a launch pad of sorts for some kind of rocket or projectile to exit the gravity of Earth and go into orbit. (He makes reference to how gunpowder can shoot a projectile.)

Referring to the Soviet’s scientific achievements in space travel, Khrushchev remarked, “Gagarin flew into space, but didn’t see any god there.” (This quote is often misattributed to Gagarin, who actually may have been decently religious for a Soviet of his time; see https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin.)

Compare this to the first American mission to the moon, where the astronauts chose to read from Genesis as they witnessed the wonders of the cosmos. Here is their transcript:

On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968, the crew of Apollo 8, the first humans to travel to the Moon, read from the Book of Genesis during a television broadcast. During their ninth orbit of the Moon, astronauts Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman recited verses 1 through 10 of the Genesis creation narrative from the King James Bible. Anders read verses 1–4, Lovell verses 5–8, and Borman read verses 9 and 10.

Bill Anders
 

We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Jim Lovell

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Frank Borman

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas—and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_8_Genesis_reading

Whenever I read this, it never fails to make me weepy and proud of how Americans used to achieve technological innovation and dominance while also humbly acknowledging God. Through AI, fusion, and biotechnology, our world is undergoing a technological transformation that is sweeping, broad, and faster than anything ever experienced by any generation. We will do well to proudly achieve but never forget God and our moral responsibilities.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com