Twice before the US pro-life organization CatholicVote.org has produced pro-life ads that have attracted national attention, being viewed millions of times online - despite the fact that (or perhaps because) major networks, including CNN, refused to air them.

Now CatholicVote.org has announced the launch of another ad - the third in the "Life:Imagine the Potential Series." And this time they are doing it with the help of famed NASA astronauts.

Dr. Joseph Kerwin, the first American doctor in outer space, joined other former NASA greats - including retired astronaut Dr. Bill Thornton and Mr. Gene Kranz, the Flight Director at Mission Control during the Apollo program, including the famous Apollo 13 mission - on Monday at a press conference in Houston to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11's historic landing on the moon and to launch the new ad by CatholicVote.org.

The new ad opens up with a detailed 3D ultrasound of an unborn baby, and the words "At 5 weeks his heart will beat." The ad continues, "At 9 weeks his feet will form," and "At 80 weeks he will take his first step." The ad concludes with famous footage of Neil Armstrong taking his first steps on the moon and the words "at 2024 weeks..". The final shot shows a footprint on the moon and the "Imagine" slogan.   

"For thousands of years, man has looked at the moon and the stars in awe. But forty years ago, we did the unthinkable: We landed on the moon," said Dr. Kerwin at Monday's press conference. "This new ad by CatholicVote.org captures the spirit of this historic mission by highlighting the potential of human life."

Íde Nic Mhathúna of Youth Defence said that short pro-life ads (also known as virals as they were viewed most often on the web) had become a powerful tool in pro-life campaigning, and that Youth Defence and the Life Institute had been looking closely at producing similar pieces addressing the Irish situation. “It’s not enough to make a video, the message needs to be modern, clever and imaginative,” she said. “That’s what we would need to achieve.”