Category Archives: Space Arts

Contests and Games, Space Arts, Space films and videos

Space arts roundup – Feb.23.2019

February 23, 2019 TopSpacer

Some recent items involving art and dance inspired by space:

** The Artists Inspire Astronauts contest is sponsored by NASA:

The goal of this challenge is to create an inspiring environment for astronauts before they head out on space missions. NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is seeking submissions for original artwork to be displayed on a wall within the Astronaut Crew Quarters. The area is one of the last places astronauts will spend time before heading for the launch pad. Artwork on display may be visible during NASA video coverage of crew departure

Entry info:

The Challenge begins: February 15, 2019
Submission Period: February 15 – April 30, 2019 (300 dpi image, 12” x 18”)
Judging Period: May 1 – June 1, 2019
Winners Notified No Later Than: June 7, 2019
Winners Final Submission Due: June 28, 2019 (110 dpi image, 4’ x 6’ via CD/DVD)
Winners Announced: Summer 2019

In addition to seeing the work hung in the Astronaut Crew Quarters, the winner will also receive an

Invitation for artist and up to 3 guests to attend a Commercial Crew launch at Kennedy Space Center (NASA not responsible for travel arrangements)

More at ‘Artists Inspire Astronauts’ Contest | Colorado Space News.

** New documentary profiles Chesley Bonestell, who created many iconic depictions of space and space travel that were particularly influential in the years leading up to the start of the Space Age. The new documentary film, Chesley Bonestell: A Brush with the Future, tells the story of his life and the impact that his work had on space artists, space pioneers, and the general public’s perception of space travel.

*Poster for the film, “Chesley Bonestell: A Brush with the Future”.*

Here is a trailer for the film, which is currently being shown at film festivals and selected theaters:

More about Bonestell (1888-1986) and the film at Visionary ‘space art’ pioneer Chesley Bonestell celebrated in documentary | Datebook/SF Chronicle.

*“Saturn As Seen From Titan” by Chesley Bonestell*

** A ballet inspired by the New Horizons mission to Pluto and beyond is being performed by the Boulder Ballet in Colorado.

On February 22, 23, & 24, 2019 Boulder Ballet is celebrating the landmark achievements of the New Horizons space mission with four special performances of New Horizons. These performances, featuring Boulder Ballet company dancers, honor NASA’s New Horizons Pluto-Kuiper Belt Mission. We’ve taken the beauty and mystery of space, the courage of exploration, the fragility and strength of humanity and mixed it with a dynamic score by a local award-winning composer and exciting choreography by a Boulder dancer/choreographer, creating a ballet that will take the audience on a journey of time and space. The music has been composed by award-winning composer Paul Fowler, music professor at Naropa University and the choreography is by Claire Davison, a Boulder Ballet alum now dancing with American Ballet Theatre.

These performances will also feature a piece choreographed by Associate Artistic Director Lance Hardin and Assistant School Director Amy Earnest to electronic music composed by Michael Schulze, a teaching associate professor at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. A third piece will be the audience favorite “Tropes” from the FACES of Boulder Ballet show presented in September, choreographed by company member Ryland Early.

The opening night post-performance celebration will be a unique opportunity to meet some of the local scientists who brought the New Horizons mission to life along with the artists who, through this performance, recognize this unparalleled accomplishment. We are excited and truly privileged to be bringing this unique combination of science and art—a perfect example of STEAM—to the Boulder community.

More at

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Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto

Education, Space Arts, Space participation

Winners announced for Space Foundation’s Int. Student Art Contest

January 24, 2019 TopSpacer

The winners of the Space Foundation‘s ninth international student space art contest, co-sponsored by Firefly Aerospace, have been selected. See the gallery of terrific winning entries here.

Winners of the Space Foundation’s
9th Annual International Student Art Contest Announced

25 winners selected from 61 countries
3,908 entries submitted
Space Achievement Award winner is Xinyi Christine from New Jersey

*Xinyi Christine, Space Achievement Award 13 – 14 Years Old, USA*

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jan 23, 2019) — The Space Foundation has announced the winners of its 9th Annual Space Foundation International Student Art Contest, co-sponsored by Firefly Aerospace. The 25 winners represent five U.S. states and 12 countries, with one entry chosen for the Space Achievement Award.

The Space Foundation invited public, private and homeschool children from around the world, ages 3-18, to submit original artwork depicting the theme, “Where Will Your Spaceship Take You?” The contest is free to enter every year, and the response for 2019 included more than 3,900 entries from 36 U.S. states and 61 countries, including Lithuania, United Arab Emirates, Kenya and Mongolia.

“Everything that has been constructed existed first in the imagination of its architect,” said Firefly CEO Dr. Tom Markusic. “We are inspired by the vision of these student space architects as they imagine ‘where their spaceships will take them.’”

*Rui Xi, 1st Place 3 – 4 Years Old, Malaysia*

The winning entries will be shown at the Space Foundation’s 35^th Space Symposium, to be held April 8-11, 2019, at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA. After the Symposium, the winning art will be displayed at Space Foundation Headquarters and Discovery Center in Colorado Springs.

“I have greatly enjoyed personally viewing thousands of inspired contest entries over the years,” said Nancy Reed, Director – Marketing & Creative Services for the Space Foundation. “I treasure gained insights from my involvement with the contest – that young artists’ creativity, desire to win and their view of space is universal throughout the world and transcends world politics and differing ideologies – a wonderful thing indeed!”

The winners will receive an astronaut autograph, certificate, ribbon and an art kit.

*Adeena, 3rd Place 9 – 10 Years Old, Indonesia*

In August 2019, the Space Foundation will make an announcement about the 2020 contest.

About the Contest

Students were invited to enter artwork in the following media formats: drawing, painting, mixed media and digital. The contest featured eight age categories, with first, second and third place honors for each of the age categories, plus one Space Foundation Achievement Award.

*Jun Yao, 1st Place, 7 – 8 Years Old, China*

The 2019 winners are listed by first name only in consideration of the children’s privacy.

3 – 4 Years

1st Place – Rui Xi, Malaysia
2nd Place – Naajiha, Bangladesh
3rd Place – Pulasi, Sri Lanka

5 – 6 Years

1st Place – Sansthita, India
2nd Place – Hangyu, China
3rd Place – Richard, United States

7 – 8 Years

1st Place – Jùn yáo, China
2nd Place – Ruixi, China
3rd Place – KeXin, China

9 – 10 Years

1st Place – Aaron, United States
2nd Place – Xu Yuan, United States
3rd Place – Adeena, Indonesia

11 – 12 Years

1st Place – Peter, United States
2nd Place – Timur, Russia
3rd Place – Maria, Ukraine

13 – 14 Years

1st Place – Crystal, United States
2nd Place – Daria, Ukraine
3rd Place – Jonathan, United States

15 – 16 Years

1st Place – Adrian, United States
2nd Place – Natalie, United States
3rd Place – Ziqing, China

17 – 18 Years

1st Place – Calum, United States
2nd Place – Adriana, United States
3rd Place – Eva Sophie, Germany

Space Achievement Award

Xinyi Christine, United States, Age 14

Where to See the Artwork
Winning artwork submitted for this year’s contest can be seen on the International Student Art Contest website gallery at http://art.spacefoundation.org/winners-gallery/2019, and all of the submitted artwork can be seen at http://art.spacefoundation.org.

About the Judges

Space Art Expertise

Richard Green, senior artist/designer with more than 20 years’ experience in creating and designing for the video game, aerospace and industrial design industries, Seattle, Washington.
Joe Vinton, digital artist, Renderosity Artist of the Year, Burton, Trent, United Kingdom.

Children’s Art Expertise

Hans Wolfe, middle and upper school visual arts, Visiting Artist Coordinator, Art Department Chair, The Colorado Springs School, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Commercial Art Expertise

Lourn Eidal, Assistant Art Director, Crystal Peak Design, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Susanne Arens, President, Crystal Peak Design and Art Director, photographer, fine artist, college instructor, Executive Director of the Pikes Peak Studio Tour, Springs Recovery Connection board member, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

About Firefly Aerospace

Firefly is developing a family of launch vehicles to provide industry-leading affordability, convenience and reliability for dedicated light to medium lift launches. Firefly’s Alpha and Beta vehicles utilize common technologies, manufacturing infrastructure and launch capabilities, providing LEO launch solutions for up to one and four metric tons of payload respectively. Alpha and Beta will provide the space industry with access to frequent launches at the lowest cost/kg, enabling ambitious commercial and exploration missions from LEO to the Moon. Headquartered in Cedar Park, Tex., Firefly has additional presence in Washington, D.C., Dnipro, Ukraine, and Tokyo, Japan. Firefly is financed by Noosphere Ventures of Menlo Park, Calif. Learn more by visiting fireflyspace.com.

About the Space Foundation
Founded in 1983, the Space Foundation is a 501(c)(3) and the world’s premier organization to inspire, educate, connect, and advocate on behalf of the global space community. It is a nonprofit leader in space awareness activities, educational programs, and major industry events, including the annual Space Symposium. Space Foundation headquarters is in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA, and has a public Discovery Center, including El Pomar Space Gallery, Northrop Grumman Science Center featuring Science On a Sphere® and the Lockheed Martin Space Education Center. The Space Foundation has a Washington, D.C., office and field representatives in Houston and the Florida Space Coast. It publishes The Space Report: The Authoritative Guide to Global Space Activity, and through its Space Certification^TM and Space Technology Hall of Fame® programs, recognizes space-based innovations that have been adapted to improve life on Earth. Visit both of our websites www.SpaceFoundation.org and DiscoverSpace.org – and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Amateur/Student Satellite, Rockets, Space Arts

Two rockets set to orbit dozens of payloads including space artworks

November 25, 2018 TopSpacer

There are two rocket launches scheduled for this Wednesday that will each carry large collections of small satellites into low earth orbit.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 is set to lift off from Southern California with “more than 60 satellites from more than 30 organizations” in the SSO-A mission brokered by Spaceflight Services of Seattle, Washington.

Targeting November 28 for launch of Spaceflight SSO-A: SmallSat Express from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 24, 2018

The liftoff time is set for 10:31:47 am local Pacific Time and 1:31:47 pm EST and 1831:47 GMT. SpaceX aims to land the Falcon 9 first stage on a platform floating on the Pacific. This will be the first reusable F9 booster to fly three times.

The SSO-A collection of payloads includes two unusual spacecraft.

The Enoch cubesat is a tribute to Robert H. Lawrence Jr., the first African-American astronaut, who was killed in a plane crash in December 1967 before he had a chance to go to space: SpaceX to Launch CubeSat Containing “Soul” of First African American Astronaut – IEEE Spectrum

… Enoch contains a 24-karat-gold canopic jar with a bust of Lawrence. Canopic jars were used by ancient Egyptians to house the organs of the deceased for use in the afterlife. This jar was blessed at a Shinto shrine in Japan and “recognized as a container for Lawrence’s soul,” according to the museum.

“[Lawrence is] someone who has a mostly untold story, who I look at as a hero but who wasn’t necessarily considered one when I was a child in school,” says Tavares Strachan, the artist behind Enoch, in an interview with IEEE Spectrum.

The project is sponsored by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Another space artwork to fly on the SSO-A mission is the Orbital Reflector designed by artist Trevor Paglen and sponsored by the Nevada Museum of Art. The spacecraft is an inflatable space mirror that will be visible by naked eye from the ground.

*The Orbital Reflector space sculpture.*

The low orbits of most of these spacecraft means the friction with the atmosphere will limit their time in orbit to relatively short periods. For example, the large cross-section area of the Orbital Reflector will reduce its lifetime to a few months. The much smaller Enoch should last 5 to 10 years.

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Meanwhile, at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is set to launch India’s Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (HySIS) plus a collection of small satellites. These include a dozen from Spaceflight: Spaceflight Arranges Launch of 12 Satellites Aboard India’s PSLV C43 – Spaceflight.

Liftoff is set for 0400 GMT on November 29th or 11 p.m. EST on November 28th.

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Commercial use of small satellites is growing fast, e.g. earth imaging company Planet has 21 satellites on the two launches including five company birds on the Falcon 9 and two university CubeSats that the company sponsored.

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Contests and Games, Space Arts

Space Foundation International Student Art Contest – sponsored by Firefly Aerospace

October 6, 2018 TopSpacer

Firefly Aerospace saves the Space Foundation’s 2019 International Student Art Contest:

Firefly Aerospace Saves Space Foundation International Student Art Contest

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 12, 2018) – Since 2011, the Space Foundation’s International Student Art Contest has inspired thousands of children around the globe toenvision the possibilities and adventures to be found in space. However, for 2019, the art contest almost ended. In spite of participation by 4,578 children in 57 countries this year, a lack of sponsorship nearly killed plans for the contest to continue in 2019. But at the eleventh hour, Austin-based Firefly Aerospace stepped in to sponsor the art contest for 2019.

“Imagination combined with hard work brings new things into reality. By encouraging students to envision destinations for their spaceships, and providing them the platform to share their creations, we hope to instill excitement in the next generation of space enthusiasts and entrepreneurs,” said Firefly CEO Dr. Tom Markusic. “Firefly is honored to partner with the Space Foundation to provide students around our world with the opportunity to artistically contemplate new worlds and promote expanding the limits of their imagination.”

Dr. Max Polyakov, Firefly’s Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Silicon Valley-based Noosphere Ventures added,

“I strongly support Space Foundation’s International Student Art Contest and believe it should be promoted widely. I asked my team to contribute to spreading the word about the contest. In the next year, I hope we, together with the Space Foundation, will initiate more projects aimed at youth.”

Student artists ages 3 to 18 years old are invited to enter the 2019 contest by submitting their original artwork. Children may draw, paint or create a digital mixed media image for the 2019 contest theme “Where Will Your Spaceship Take You?”

There is no cost to participate in the contest. The deadline to submit entries is noon universal time (12:00 UTC), Nov. 19, 2018, and artwork must be submitted online by the student’s teacher, parent or legal guardian, 18 years or older. Homeschool students are also invited to participate.

Prizes will be awarded by age category and the winners notified in February 2019.

Awards and Categories

The Space Foundation will award a total of 25 winners — first, second and third place for each age category and a Space Foundation Achievement Award.

Acceptable Artwork Media/Format

Drawing
Painting
Mixed media
Digital art

Eight Age Categories

3 – 4 years
5 – 6 years
7 – 8 years
9 – 10 years
11 – 12 years
13 – 14 years
15 – 16 years
17 – 18 years

Prizes and Exposure

Winning entries will be displayed on the Space Foundation website and on the contest website, social media and at the 35th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA, where space professionals from around the world will see the exhibit. View past contest winning artwork at: Art.SpaceFoundation.org
Winning artwork will also be displayed at the Space Foundation headquarters and Discovery Center in Colorado Springs.
All winners receive international exposure — digital images of past winners’ artwork have been sent to the International Space Station and displayed throughout China in 2018 as part of a national art exhibition by the Chinese Society of Astronautics (CSA).

How to Enter

All artwork must be submitted electronically at Art.SpaceFoundation.org by a teacher, parent or legal guardian, 18 years or older. For general contest questions, contact the Space Foundation at ArtContest@SpaceFoundation.org.

Due to the high volume of entries, we are unable to contact each participant regarding contest status. Please watch Art.SpaceFoundation.org for details and announcements.

About Firefly Aerospace: Firefly is developing a family of launch vehicles to provide industry-leading affordability, convenience and reliability for dedicated light to medium lift launches. Firefly’s Alpha and Beta vehicles utilize common technologies, manufacturing infrastructure and launch capabilities, providing LEO launch solutions for up to one and four metric tons of payload respectively. Alpha and Beta will provide the space industry with access to frequent launches at the lowest cost/kg, enabling ambitious commercial and exploration missions from LEO to the Moon. Headquartered in Cedar Park, Tex., Firefly has additional presence in Washington, D.C., Dnipro, Ukraine, and Tokyo, Japan. Firefly is financed by Noosphere Ventures of Menlo Park, Calif.

About the Space Foundation: Founded in 1983, the Space Foundation is a 501(c)(3) and the world’s premier organization to inspire, educate, connect, and advocate on behalf of the global space community. It is a nonprofit leader in space awareness activities, educational programs, and major industry events, including the annual Space Symposium. Space Foundation headquarters is in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA, and has a public Discovery Center, including El Pomar Space Gallery, Northrop Grumman Science Center featuring Science On a Sphere® and the Lockheed Martin Space Education Center. The Space Foundation has a Washington, D.C., office and field representatives in Houston and the Florida Space Coast. It publishes The Space Report: The Authoritative Guide to Global Space Activity, and through its Space CertificationTM and Space Technology Hall of Fame® programs, recognizes space-based innovations that have been adapted to improve life on Earth. Visit both of our websites – www.SpaceFoundation.org and DiscoverSpace.org – and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

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The High Frontier: An Easier Way

Activism, Space Arts, SpaceCasts

Videos: TMRO Orbit 11.37- “Why send artists to the moon on BFR? $dearMoon”

October 3, 2018 TopSpacer

A recent episode of the TMRO.tv weekly program included a panel discussion of the plan by Yusaku Maezawa to fly around the Moon in a SpaceX spaceship with a group of artists: Why send artists to the moon on BFR? #dearMoon – TMRO

This week we have an epic panel to talk about the recent #dearMoon announcement including Tim Dodd the Everyday Astronaut, Emory “VaxHeadroom” Stagmer, Dr. Niamh Shaw and Astronaut Nicole Stott. We focus on the impact of the recent announcement by using a trip around the moon and art to inspire humanity in a totally new way.

During the discussion it was mentioned that musician Martin Molin of the Swedish “folktronica” band Wintergatan had released a video making the case for his selection for the flight. Here is that video: