Category Archives: Space Arts

Space Arts, Space Collecting, Space participation

Space art update – April 2026

It’s been quite a while since I posted anything on space inspired art. Here are miscellaneous art items I’ve collected over the past few years.

Art In Space

** SRIC4 #16: “Gallery Space: Art and spaceflight” with Barbara Brownie | Space Renaissance

This video provides a nice overview of art “in space” given by Dr Barbara Brownie, Associate Dean (Education) at the Royal College of Art.

This is the preliminary webinar #16 of the IV SRI World Congress (SRIC4)
Abstract:
The expansion of the commercial spaceflight sector and democratization of space is creating new opportunities for artists to engage directly with the environment of space. For a new generation of space artists, space presents new physical and philosophic questions. This webinar explores how space artists are redefining their practice through direct engagement with space, using case-studies of work that has been deployed on board the ISS, sub-orbital flights, and zeroG flights. Through these, the webinar will explore how artists are revising traditional art methods and materials through interactions with microgravity; the relationships between artists, astronauts and audiences; and the disciplinary and hierarchy challenges faced by artists operating in the space sector.

An essential Bio:
Dr Barbara Brownie is an Associate Dean (Education) at the Royal College of Art. Barbara’s research explores space as a site for art and design, with a particular focus on effects of weightlessness. Her book, Spacewear: Weightlessness and the Final Frontier of Fashion (Bloomsbury, 2019), considers the challenges and opportunities that the commercial space age presents to fashion designers, and how weightlessness necessitates new approaches to clothing and the dressed body. Her most recent book, Art in Orbit (Bloomsbury 2025), explores the relationship between the arts and space sectors, and the spaceworks that demonstrate art’s value in space exploration. In 2026 and 2027 she will be sending writing and artworks to space on three separate flights: one sub-orbital, one orbital, and one lunar. She co-leads the _Space research group at the RCA, a group of artists and researchers operating at the intersection of art and aerospace.

** A finger-tip painting travels aboard a space telescope

Artist Lisa Pettibone led a project that attached a work of art to ESA’s Euclid space telescope, launched in 2023:  Touching space | The Space Review – Apr.1.2024

Mounted on its hull is the Fingertip Galaxy plaque with the finger marks of over 250 mission scientists and engineers, its goal to convey the spirit of the mission: a dedicated, and often personal, desire to unravel the structure of the universe through capturing images of billions of galaxies that point to the presence of dark matter. An international effort led by ESA, the initiative involves more than 1,700 people (including NASA astrophysicists) sharing their skills and determination to better understand the forces threading through space to almost three quarters back in time to the Big Bang.

The artwork comprises a handmade galaxy painting, surrounded by poetry related to its making, reduced and laser etched on to an aluminium A5-size plate and glued to the craft. Many of the scientists who worked with myself and Tom Kitching, the Euclid science lead, to achieve this effort were excited by the prospect of their marks going into space.

The Fingertip Galaxy: Reflecting Euclid in art | European Space Agency, ESA

“After Euclid’s lifetime, it will just be floating in space. What if future beings found Euclid? How would they know anything about the humanity of the people?” – Tom Kitching, lead scientist of Euclid’s VIS instrument.

The team behind ESA’s Euclid mission has come together to create something special – a personal and collective galaxy-shaped fingerprint painting that has been attached to the spacecraft ready to launch into space. The collaborative nature of the artwork reflects the collaborative nature of the Euclid project overall; in both cases, people have come together to build something unique.

The Fingertip Galaxy was created by visual artist Lisa Pettibone and Euclid instrument scientist Tom Kitching. Since the very first fingerprint was pressed down in 2019, over 250 scientists and engineers have contributed to the piece of art.

So why a galaxy? Euclid is a galaxy-imaging machine that will observe billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years to make a 3D map of the Universe. The mission’s ultimate aim is to explore dark matter and dark energy.

“Although Euclid has always been beautiful in concept and materials, it didn’t really say anything about the people involved and humanity as a whole. We asked ourselves whether we could do something artistic that would speak to people,” says Lisa.

Scientists and engineers involved in Euclid were invited to dip their fingertips in paint and make their mark on a large piece of paper.

“We wanted something authentic, not perfect, and not shaped too much,” continues Lisa. “The result is a piece of art with a wonderful energy to it that captures all the energy of the people involved.”

The artwork was photographed and engraved onto a plaque using lasers at Mullard Space Science Laboratory – the same lasers that are used to etch parts for satellites. The plaque was fixed to Euclid and revealed at a ‘Goodbye Euclid’ event on 1 July 2022, when Euclid left Thales Alenia Space in Turin to head to Cannes for final testing as a complete system.

Euclid’s project scientist René Laureijs suggested adding text to the plaque to explain the thoughts behind it. Continuing the artistic nature of the project, poet Simon Barraclough wrote a dedicated poem, from which a short extract was chosen to be etched on to the plaque in a typewriter font that swirls around the galaxy of fingerprints. This video ends with Simon reading part of Since his poem. Lisa summarises the Fingertip Galaxy:

“It is adding an element of humanity to a dark, vast space, where as far as we can see there is no other intelligent life.”

See also

NASA Art

** NASA revitalized its space art program starting in 2024: NASA’s Art Program is Back | NASA – Sept.2024

The first projects included

two new space-themed murals in New York’s Hudson Square neighborhood in Manhattan. The vision of the reimagined NASA Art Program is to inspire and engage the Artemis Generation with community murals and other art projects for the benefit of humanity.  

Two murals created by artist Joel Kowsky for NASA. Credits: NASA

Find more about the murals in NASA Relaunches Art Program with Space-Themed Murals | NASA – Sept.24.2024.

NASA and Art gives the history of the agency’s art program, which started in 1962. See also

Art Contests

** NASA space art contests:

— The NASA Art Contest of 2025 had the theme “Our Wonder Changes the World”. The grand prize winning entry was “My Wonders with You”  by high school student  Dahyun Jung:

Dahyun Jung’s “My Wonders with You” won the grand prize in the 2025 NASA Art Contest. Credits: NASA & Dahyun Jung

More about the winning entry: Washington State Student Wins 2025 NASA Art Contest | NASA – Aug.25.2025

Click here for a complete list of the winners organized by grade level.  And click here to view all the entries.

— NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) sponsored an art contest as well: Winners Named in NASA Space Tech Art Challenge | NASA – May.31.2026

[The] program studies innovative, technically credible, advanced projects that could one day “change the possible” in aerospace. To help people understand what these innovations might look like, NIAC has turned to artists and graphic designers in a global contest to create posters to visualize future technologies under development.

— NASA challenge contest for artistic renderings of future space habitation architectures: Art Inspired by Exploration: NASA Unveils Architecture Art Challenge Winners | NASA – Feb.11.2025

The challenge, hosted by contractor yet2 through NASA’s Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program, was open to artists from around the globe. Guidelines asked artists to consider NASA’s Moon to Mars Architecture development effort, which uses engineering processes to distil NASA’s Moon to Mars Objectives into the systems needed to accomplish them. NASA received 313 submissions from 22 U.S. states and 47 countries.

Here’s a NASA collage of the top entrants:

Collage from NASA displaying the winning entries in the Moon to Mars Architecture Art Challenge. Clockwise, the entries from Jimmy Catanzaro, Jean-Luc Sabourin, Irene Magi, Pavlo Kandyba, Antonella Di Cristofaro, Francesco Simone, Mia Nickell, Lux Bodell, Olivia De Grande, Sophie Duan. Credits: NASA

** Other space art contests: 

— The International Space Art & Poetry Contest of 2024 included multiple age groups. Their excellent artwork and poetry can be viewed on the SpaceArtContest website.

— Mars Society Poster Contest 

The Mars Society has sponsored poster contests to promote the organization’s annual conventions. Here are reports about the most recent two contests:

Tasia Cobbs created the winning entry in the 2025 Mars Society Poster Contest. Credits: Mars Society

— National Space Society (NSS) art contest – NSS has sponsored many art contests over the years. NSS was a co-sponsor of a recent art contest as part of the  Goddard100 celebration of the 100th anniversary (March 16, 2026) of the first liquid-fueled rocket flight by Robert H. Goddard.  See winning entrants at the Goddard 100 Contests Art Gallery.

For a view of the art in other NSS contests, check out the Art Galleries from NSS Contests.

Space Artists and Projects

** The SETI Institute hosts the Artists In Residence (AIR) Program.

The AIR program expands upon the SETI Institute’s mission to explore, understand, and explain the origin, nature, and prevalence of life in the universe. The artworks, performances, and public projects resulting from the AIR collaborations are at the cutting edge of artistic and scientific practice. Our program encompasses various artistic disciplines, including visual arts, literature and spoken word, music, film, dance, and theatre.

Our curatorial direction emphasizes projects that consider the evolution of intelligence, ponder the beginnings of life, and critically reflect on our anthropocentric world view.

Our projects

Our community of artists in residence is at the core of the SETI AIR program. We actively support the development, creation, and exhibition of their projects. We are also actively engaged in project-based collaborations with arts organizations and artist groups. These dynamic partnerships include the SETI x AI residency with Ars Electronica and the Making Contact exhibition at the New Museum in Los Gatos. The Center for Art + Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art houses the SETI AIR archive, which allows us to share the AIR program’s creative outcomes with international researchers, artists, and academics.

Some recent SETI AIR news:

Here is an AIR video about Exoplanetary Poetry: AI, Chemistry, and Alien Communication

Our Cosmic Consciousness residency artists daniela brill estrada, Bart Kuipers, and Julie-Michèle Morin, discuss an art-science collaboration that imagines how language might emerge from alien worlds. Hosts: Bettina Forget and Cosmic Consciousness residency advisor Gregory Betts.

Join SETI AIR program Director Bettina Forget for a conversation with Cosmic Consciousness artists in residence daniela brill estrada, Bart Kuipers, and Julie-Michèle Morin, joined by residency advisor Gregory Betts. Together, they will discuss Exoplanetary Poetry, an art-science collaboration that imagines how language might emerge from alien worlds.

Using atmospheric data from real exoplanets, the team trains an artificial intelligence to write poems alongside human collaborators. The resulting texts are translated back into chemistry, forming multisensory installations where reactions generate visual forms, textures, and scent. How can molecules become metaphors? What does it mean to co-author with a nonhuman intelligence shaped by planetary science? And can poetry help us think differently about life beyond Earth?

** Kazunori Toshinai’s SPACE PROJECT converts “rocket manufacturing leftovers” into “unusually shaped furniture pieces“: “Upcycling” Space Rocket Scraps to Futuristic Furniture | Leonard David – Sept.1.2025

** Agnieszka Pilat spoke on The Space Show  (Feb.5.2024) about

her space art with SpaceX and more regarding technology as the cathedral of today. Our guest is an award-winning artist with current work ‘exploring the philosophical underpinnings of modern technology and has involved series at SpaceX, Boston Dynamics, and Waymo’.“

Examples of Pilat’s artwork can be found on her Instagram account.

** AAA 7 MOONS ART Video – full length, with the Moons Symphony by Amanda Lee Falkenberg 

Astronomical and Space Artists of the International Association of Astronomical Artists (IAAA) contributed new and legacy art for the 7 MOONS ART Video. This video compiles a series of short 7 moon videos, and brings an artistic perspective to the inspired music of ’The Moons Symphony’ by composer Amanda Lee Falkenberg.

7 MOONS ART Video holds together stories of astronomical art history, show science as the basis of astronomical art, and places several of our longest standing and esteemed astronomical artists in the same show as some of our newest members from around the world.

The extraordinary 7 MOONS described in art and music include; three moons of the planet Jupiter – Io, Europa and Ganymede; two moons of planet Saturn – Titan and Enceladus; one moon of the planet Uranus – Miranda; and of course, our own Earth Moon. Individual short 7 Moons Art videos are also available for viewing.

Sampling of Galleries & Exhibitions

** Some of the famous in-space colony artwork of Don Davis was included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New Your City in 2023-24: Don Davis at MOMA This Month | Space Studies Institute – Sept.1.2023.

And on a MOMA book: Emerging Ecologies: Architecture and the Rise of Environmentalism – MoMA Design Store.

**  The Al Thuraya Planetarium in Qatar held an exhibition of 21 artists in 2024 at: 21 artists capture wonders of space at Katara exhibition | The Peninsula

** Moon Gallery aims to create the “first permanent museum on the Moon“. The nonprofit Dutch based cultural organization was  founded in 2020 by Anna Sitnikova, Elizaveta Glukhova, Bernard Foing, and Charlotte ten Holder. The primary goal is to create an art gallery on the Moon as part of the establishment of the first lunar outpost. This will start with one hundred artworks integrated into a 10 x 10 x 1 grid tray. A preliminary grid went to the ISS in 2022:

The Moon Gallery is an international, collaborative art installation housing the seeds of a future, shared interplanetary culture. In collaboration with Nanoracks, powered by Voyager Space , the test payload of 64 artifacts, each no bigger than one cubic centimeter, is targeting launch aboard the NG-17 Cygnus resupply mission on February 19, 2022. The gallery is represented by artists from Asia, Europe, North America, South America, and Africa.

The Moon Gallery ISS Payload is an 8×8 grid displaying 64 art works. It was taken to the Int. Space Station in 2022. Credits: Moon Gallery

What can a book the size of a finger-tip tell us about the Moon and humanity?

Moon Bound, a 1 cm³ miniature book being sent to the Moon this year as part of a science rover, will be presented in Plovdiv, inviting visitors to explore relationships among art, science, and the Moon. The exhibition centers on a single question: How does the Moon see the Earth? Alongside the book, the exhibition features artworks in multiple formats that create an immersive experience blending scientific research with artistic imagination.

**Online Galleries:

Space art tips

Create space art of your own. Here are tips on making simple space artworks:

** An easy method for drawing space and planets | Art Room

** Beginner Space Spray Paint Art Class! | Amethyst Vazquez

** Solar System Drawing with Oil Pastel – Step by Step for beginners | Art Diarium

 

Education, Space Arts, Space participation

Space arts roundup – Aug.14.2023

This Space arts roundup offers a selection of news and resources from the intersection of space and the arts.

**  Ax-2 Mission | John Shoffner announced International Space Art Content winners from the ISS – Axiom Space

Axiom Space is guided by the vision of a thriving home in space that benefits every human, everywhere. The leader in providing space infrastructure as a service, Axiom offers end-to-end missions to the International Space Station today while privately developing its successor – a permanent commercial destination in Earth’s orbit that will sustain human growth off the planet and bring untold benefits back home. More information about Axiom can be found at www.axiomspace.com.

See also the gallery of submissions to the Space Art Contest for the Axiom mission.

** Moon Gallery is an

international collaborative artwork and a gallery of ideas worth sending to the Moon. Moon Gallery aims to set up the first permanent museum on the Moon. Moon Gallery will launch 100 artefacts to the Moon within the compact format of 10 x 10 x 1cm plate on a lunar lander exterior panelling as early as 2025. In this Petri-dish-like gallery, we are developing a culture for future interplanetary society. What are the ideas we want to promote into the future? What are the ideas we want to leave behind?

A collection of art pieces were sent to the ISS in February 2022 on the NG-17 mission of the Northrop-Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft. For this test mission, the gallery grid featured

 … 8×8 cells housing 64 physical artefacts and one engraved AR artwork. Sixty-five art projects featured in the gallery reached the final frontier of human habitation and marked the historical meeting point of the Moon Gallery and the cosmos. Reaching low Earth orbit on our way to the Moon is the first step in extending our cultural dialogue to space.

Check out an image at Instagram of the housing floating on the ISS.

See the gallery of diverse artwork for the Moon mission. More info at their LinkTree page.

** A profile of Don Davis in the final episode of the Artist Depiction film series about noted space artists:

** A European Ariane 5 rocket launched last April  with a student’s artwork  on the nosecone:  Ariane 5 rocket decorated with winning Juice artwork – ESA

ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) will launch in April on an Ariane 5 rocket. The nosecone faring has been decorated with the winning artwork in the ‘JUICE Up Your Rocket!’ competition. The artwork came from 9-year-old Yaryna.

Here is a video about the “JUICE Up Your Rocket!” art project:

The Jupiter Icy moons Explorer (Juice) is an ESA planetary exploration mission currently under construction, development and testing at different sites across Europe. This is the seventh episode of a series, in which we take the viewer behind the scenes of the European space industry, space technology and planetary science community around the Juice mission.

In this Episode Manuela Baroni, head of the Juice Project Control Section, presents the idea and results of the ‘JUICE Up Your Rocket!’ competition, which invited children from all over the world to create a work of art related to the mission. The winning artwork will be placed on the nose (fairing) of the rocket that will launch Juice into space!

This episode is part of a film project that will result in a one-hour documentary film to be released before the launch of Juice. Produced for ESA by Lightcurve Films. Original music by William Zeitler. Animations by Rafael Andres (ESA).

** The STAR SPHERE | Space Inspiration Project is a Sony sponsored project to support creativity inspired by space.  The Art from Space Perspectives

… is not limited to creating works such as photographs, videos, movies, and media art from images and footage taken by the space camera.

We will work on various creative activities with many people, including artists and creators, by offering new inspiration from experiences connecting with space through operation of our satellite and content that brings users various forms of “Space perspectives.”

It will have the possibility to bring about inspiration in creativity in all kinds of domains, from creations such as artworks including paintings and sculptures, design in fashion and architecture, animation, games, narratives, and poetry to expressions and performances such as music, theater, and dance. STAR SPHERE will unleash space for artists and creators with the latest technology and entertainment that imparts fresh meanings of space.

Here is a profile of Hiroshi Sugimoto, the first partner in this initiative: Inspiring Space Experiences × Hiroshi Sugimoto

** Boldly Going: Planet and The Roddenberry Foundation Collaboration – Planet Labs

The company Planet Labs has built, launched, and operated hundreds of small satellites in orbit that provide near continuous high resolution images of the entire surface of the Earth. On January of 2022, three dozen Planet satellites were taken into orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The side panels of ten of the satellites were engraved with artwork and quotes selected from submissions from over 1000 fans of Star Trek and Gene Roddenberry.

A Planet SuperDove with the Boldly Go Campaign artwork laser etched onto its side panels. Credit: Planet Labs PBC

Here is a video from Planet about The Boldly Go Campaign:

We recently launched 36 Planet SuperDove satellites with SpaceX, with a select number of these satellites featuring Star Trek inspired quotes as a part of Planet and Roddenberry Foundation’s shared commitment to make the world a more sustainable and secure place. The Roddenberry Foundation’s Rod Roddenberry, son of Star Trek Creator’s Gene Roddenberry, gets the scoop from our very own VP of Launch Mike Safyan on how sats are reaching the final frontier…of making the world a better place. Watch now!

** Sci-Fi Short Documentary “Artist Depiction by Steve R. Dodd” | DUST

Working at home in Tennessee with no internet or computer, Steve R. Dodd has created hundreds of beautiful ‘spacescapes’ visions of a positive future. Now 69 years old, this is his first on camera interview.

“Artist Depiction by Steve R. Dodd” directed by Brett Ryan Bonowicz

Connect with the Filmmaker:
https://twitter.com/BRBonowicz
https://twitter.com/artistdepiction
https://www.clindar.net/

** An interview with artist James Vaughan: NSS Space Forum – From Fashion to Space: An Artist’s Adventures, A Conversation with James Vaughan – Youtube. This video presents a conversation with

… James Vaughan, aerospace illustrator and primary cover artist for Ad Astra magazine. Ad Astra Editor-in-Chief Rod Pyle sits down to talk with Jim about his stunning work in illustrating the future of spaceflight, his career in Chicago’s advertising and fashion industries, and what makes some of his landmark works stand out in a crowded field–and why everyone from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to Lockheed Martin, to the NSS have engaged him to communicate their vision. Enjoy this informative and fun space forum with one of the most prominent space artists of today.

** Lunar lander to include artist’s engraving

The artist Sacha Jafri has placed an engraving on Astrobotic‘s Peregrine lunar lander, which will be launched to the Moon on the first flight of the ULA Vulcan rocket. The UK company Spacebit worked with Jafri on the installation of the artwork on the lander.

** Winning entries in the 2023 Commercial Crew Program Children’s Artwork contest can be seen here. Here’s more info on the

Don’t see any word yet on whether there will be a 2024 contest

** The Earthling Project‘s  Art gallery has a large selection of space inspired artworks submitted by earthlings from all over the globe.

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=== The Art of C. Sergent Lindsey ===

“SpaceX Delivers the Goods” by C. Sergent Lindsey printed on phone cover. Available at Fine Art America.
Space Arts, Space Music, Space participation

Space music roundup – Feb.22.2023

Here are some space music related items:

** Julia Westlin and David MeShow do a nice acapella cover of TALK’s Run Away To Mars (Listen to the TALK version in the previous Space Music posting):

**Space Song (Lyrics) – Beach House – Vibe Music – YouTube

** An anthology of lyrics to Filk songs has been created by Chris Weber and is available as an e-Book, in paperback, and in hardback at  Sentient Chili and Stranger Filk: Lyrics to 107 Songs of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Fandom eBook : Weber, Chris: Kindle Store/Amazon [commission link].

** Hole in Space — the mother of all video chats – CIS 471: A story about early satellite-enabled global music and art events:

New technology enables new art forms and artists Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz (K&S) began working with geostationary satellite links in 1977. Their first work was an experiment in remote dance and music. Video of dancers at The Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and an educational television center in California was transmitted to a central control studio where a composite was formed and sent back to monitors the dancers could see. 

See also:

* SETI Live: The Earthling Project – Songs for Outer Space – SETI Institute on YouTube

Join SETI Institute’s Artist-in-Residence, Felipe Pérez Santiago, as he discusses the ambitious Earthling Project. Launched in 2020, the project collects songs from people around the world to create musical compositions representing humanity. These compositions will be sent into space with the help of the Arch Mission Foundation, a nonprofit preserving human knowledge for future generations. Tune in to hear from Santiago and SETI AIR Director Bettina Forget, and listen to the world sing in harmony on the Earthling Project – Songs for Outer Space.

** Download the Earthling Project app and use it to

[r]ecord your voice singing about your culture and traditions, your geographic context, your personal history, everything that makes you human.

** The Earthling Project – Trailer – The Earthling Project on Youtube

It’s time to make history! One voice that will unite all cultures: Earthling Project.. This historic legacy awaits, let’s be the musical representation of humanity at this point in history.

** Space Oddity (David Bowie Cover) – Puddles Pity Party

** Saturn, The Bringer of Old Age – Tomita

Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” Movement 2: Venus, The Bringer of Peace, electronically performed by Isao Tomita, ©1976, RCA Records, New York, NY. Produced by Plasma Music, Inc.

** Patrolling Space Borders (Full CD) – Tangerine Dream

Also known as Tangerine Dream – Laserium North American Tour March 29th – April 1977 / Montreal – Place Des Arts – 09/04/1977 Original Canadian CHOM-FM Recording. Unofficial Release

** Science Of Sleeping, Spacecraft – Moons of Jupiter [Album] (2022) – WherePostRockDwells – YouTube

Purchase: https://spacecraft.bandcamp.com/album…
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/59KUVS…

Genre: Ambient, Cinematic
Artists: Science of Sleeping & Spacecraft
Album: Moons of Jupiter (December 9, 2022)
Label: Valley View Records (https://www.valleyviewrecords.com.au/)

…

** Talking To The Moon (Lyrics) – Bruno Mars – Vibe Music – YouTube

** Interstellar (Royal Albert Hall Organ) – Hans Zimmer – Ashton Gleckman

Composed by Hans Zimmer
MIDI Programmed and Arranged by Ashton Gleckman

All organ sounds from the new Royal Albert Hall Organ library, recorded at the historic hall in London by James Everingham. Available now: https://www.royalalberthallorgan.com/

…

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Space Arts, Space participation

Space art roundup – July.7.2022

Here is a collection of news, announcements, videos, and other resources that touch on the mingling of art and space:

=== Art in space

Sacha Jafri artwork,”We Rise Together – with the Light of the Moon“. To withstand the temperature extremes on the lunar surface, the design was etched onto a gold sheet mounted on an aluminum plate. Credits: Selenian

** Sacha Jafri‘s artwork going to the Moon. The First Artwork To Be Sent to the Moon Will Be a Piece by Dubai-Based Artist Sacha Jafri – Vogue:

The artwork will be placed on the surface of the moon later this year by Spacebit, a company developing technology for space exploration, and Astrobotic Technology Inc., a company providing end-to-end delivery services for payloads to the moon. The humanitarian aspect of the mission has been put together by Selenian, a pioneering UAE company that specializes in the curation of art in space. This mission is also the first-ever commercial lunar mission under the NASA CLPS, and the landing site of Jafri’s artwork will be marked as a world heritage landmark.

The Astrobotic mission will launch on ULA’s first Vulcan rocket, which should lift off by the end of 2022 or the first quarter of 2023. The Peregrine Lander will carry a couple of dozen scientific and commercial payloads to the Lacus Mortis crater on northeast area of near side of the Moon.

The UAE company Selenian is in charge of the project: First Artwork on the Moon – Selenian – Feb.14.2022

The first official Artwork entitled ‘We Rise Together – with the Light of the Moon’, created by contemporary British Artist Sacha Jafri, will be placed on the Moon with the help of Selenian, a pioneering company that specialises in the curation of art in space, and Astrobotic, a commercial space company, in association with NASA under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative known as NASA CLPS. The landing site will then become a world heritage landmark preserved forever.

The Artwork will be revealed to the world in a press conference next week. Jafri has used an aerospace grade aluminium gold plate as his canvas in order for the Artwork to be fully resilient to the lunar conditions and to last eternally on the Moon.

Jafri’s original work will be placed on the surface of the Moon triggering the release of a five-series NFT Charitable Collection. The original work will rest in the solitude of the Moon, emanating energy back to Earth. Five NFTs will launch to commemorate each stage of the mission – from the rocket launch entering the stratosphere, the Earth circumnavigation, the Moon sling-shot, the Moon landing and the legacy of the eternal artwork on the Moon.

In addition, 88 unique Hearts that fly to the Moon as part of the painting, will be released to the world as the Jafri ‘Moonheart NFTs’.

The art work shown above was revealed in February 2022:

More at Artist Sacha Jafri turns the Moon into an art gallery with his work – GulfToday – Feb.26.2022.

**Jeff Koons is sending sculptures to the Moon as well. Koons, a well-known American pop artist, is a customer of Intuitive Machines, whose IM-1 mission is currently scheduled to liftoff by the end of 2022 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The goal is to set the Nova-C lander safely onto Oceanus Procellarum. The lander will hold several NASA sponsored scientific instruments as well as some commercial payloads including the sculptures from Koons. Artist Jeff Koons aims to send sculptures to the Moon on commercial lunar lander – MSN – Mar.29.2022

Koons is best known for his popular sculptures of balloon animals created out of stainless steel. Now, some of his new sculptures will join the payloads on the outside of Nova-C. Specifically, the Koons sculptures will be encased in a transparent, thermally-coated cube that measures 6 inches on all sides, according to Intuitive Machines. The tiny sculptures will supposedly be the first “authorized” works of art to reach the lunar surface, according to Pace Gallery, which represents Koons — though that title will only work if Intuitive Machines can get to the Moon relatively soon.

Koons calls the project Moon Phases. See the original announcement at Jeff Koons Unveils “Moon Phases” NFT Project – Pace Gallery.

Former NASA Astronaut and current Intuitive Machines Vice President, Jack Fischer says, “the Intuitive Machines team is passionate about this historic project. Koons’s sculptures, documented by the NFTs and housed in a transparent, thermally coated, sustainably built enclosed art cube, will be the first authorized artworks to be placed on the surface of the Moon, where they will remain in perpetuity.”

More about the NFT aspects: Moon Phases: An Inside Look At The NFT Project That Will Land on the Moon – NFTNow.com.

** Astrobotic’s Perigrine lander will also carry thousands of digitized artworks in The Peregrine Collection, a time capsule with contributions from over 1200 artists. The collection is included in the DHL MoonBox, one of a couple of dozen payloads in Astrobotic’s Moon Manifest. DHL is sponsoring the Moonbox to promote the company’s Lunar Logistics services, which assist any organization wanting to send a payload to the Moon.

The Peregrine collection is a part of the Lunar Codex project founded by Samuel Peralta. Two additional collections will travel to the Moon on subsequent missions as well. In total, over 20,000 artworks will be included on the three lunar missions.

Intuitive Machines will take the Nova Collection on the company’s IM-1 mission and the Polaris Collection will ride on Astrobotic’s second lunar lander.

An article about one of the artists with paintings on the Peregrine: Elizabeth Barden ‘over the Moon’ as two figurative realism portraits chosen for Astrobotic lunar landing – ABC News.

** Artist Tristan Eaton in 2020 sent a selection of his work to space aboard the first SpaceX Dragon to carry a crew to the International Space Station.

When SpaceX asked me to create art to join these astronauts in space, I wanted to make something inspirational. Looking down from space to see all of Human Kind together on this tiny planet might remind you how much history and potential we have. Yet we have so much further to go.

With this in mind, I created a series of indestructible, 2 sided paintings made from gold, brass and aluminum to represent the duality of Human Kind, our past and our future.

With kindness, hope and science, Human Kind has changed the world many times over. For a better future, we can do it again.

More at:

** First NFT artworks to travel to the ISS. Nanoracks and Artemis Music in 2021 transmitted two digital files to the International Space Station, one a visual animation and the other a piano performance, as a demonstration of space NFTs: Sending art to space: An interview with artist Micah Johnson – Space.com – Aug.9.2021

On July 28, the companies Nanoracks LLC and Artemis Music Entertainment beamed two pieces of art to the International Space Station: a recording of Claude Debussy’s piano classic “Clair de Lune” and “Why Not Me,” a visual work by [Micah] Johnson featuring his character Aku, a Black boy who dreams of becoming an astronaut.

Both digital files circled Earth once, came back down and were minted as non-fungible tokens — the first-ever space-flown music and visual-art NFTs, respectively.

Micah Johnson is a former professional baseball player who has become a well-known figurative artist. Aku has become one of his most famous creations:

Aku is a character created by former MLB player turned artist, Micah Johnson, after hearing a young boy ask, “Can astronauts be black?”

The other file transmitted to and from the ISS was a recording of a performance of Debussy’s piano composition Clair de Lune (Moonlight): Music masterpiece ‘Clair de Lune’ beamed to space station in NFT 1st | Space.com – Aug.2.2021

This special rendition of Debussy’s Clair de Lune (‘Moonlight’), commissioned by Artemis Music LLC and performed by internationally renowned pianist Wing-Chong Kam, was beamed into space and orbited the Earth aboard the International Space Station on July 28th, 2021, in commemoration of the timeless beauty of Claude Debussy’s masterpiece and in celebration of the unity of music for all humankind.

The cosmic perspective of space inspires a cognitive shift in humans. Debussy’s Clair de Lune perhaps comes as close as possible to stirring the emotions of awe and wonder experienced by space travelers. The universe is full of music, and we humans are learning how to use music to not only understand the science of the universe, but to grasp our place in it.

“Music is what happens in the space between the notes.” – Claude Debussy

The two NFTs were subsequently auctioned: NFT artwork flies to space for 1st time, will soon go on auction – Space.com – Aug.5.2021.

The proceeds went to the nonprofit organization Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS).

This and other auctions of Aku NFTs generated over $20M in sales as of last February: NFT by Micah Johnson closes sale at over $20 million for the Aku series – Artdaily.com – Feb.24.2022.

Artemis intends to use NFTs in support of the space arts. They plan to

enable partnerships with artists, producers, creators, and curators to connect musical and artistic works to the inspiration, perspective and opportunity of outer space. Combined with blockchain technology that preserves the uniqueness and provenance of underlying rights and intellectual property, the Artemis Space Network will allow the creation and transmission of space-flown creative works that directly connects creators, fans, and collectors anywhere in the world.

More Artemis music resources:

** Paintings on chute covers of a New Shepard rocket by Ghanian artist Amoako Boafo flew to space in 2021: Artwork takes the spotlight in Blue Origin’s latest space trip – GeekWire

But the marquee payloads actually rode on the exterior of the capsule: In cooperation with Utah-based Uplift Aerospace, Blue Origin flew three portraits that Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo painted on the capsule’s main chute covers.

“Suborbital Triptych” depicts Boafo’s mother; the mother of fellow artist Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, a childhood friend of Boafo’s; and Boafo himself.

 

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** Julia Christensen hopes to send her art to another star: Art En Route to Proxima B | Oberlin College and Conservatory – Dec.6.2018.

Associate Professor of Integrated Media Julia Christensen is currently working with NASA scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. She is working on a project envisioning artwork where no artwork has gone before: aboard an interstellar space mission en route to Proxima b, an exoplanet outside our Sun’s solar system.

The art that she would send would come from a project titled TREE OF LIFE

The Tree of Life is the primary project of a collaborative effort between Julia Christensen and scientists and engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to design spacecraft and interplanetary communication technology that can operate for 200 years or more. The project began out of a series of studies Christensen took part in at JPL about a future mission to Proxima B, in which a major conclusion was that we must transcend current frames of obsolescence in order to build a spacecraft that can complete a mission to Proxima B. The CubeSat is to be deployed in low-Earth orbit, and transmits data about its health/operations to a terrestrial tree, which is augmented to act as an Earthly antenna. At the site of the tree, simultaneously, a 200-year dataset is measured to describe the tree’s health and environmental conditions. That data will be translated into audible sonic frequencies that can be transmitted via radio between the tree and CubeSat, so that effectively, the tree and spacecraft can sing together in a 200-year duet.

See also: This Artist Wanted to Teach Aliens About Life on Earth. So, She Teamed Up With NASA Scientists to Send an Artwork Into Outer Space – ArtNet.com – Dec.8.2020.

=== Space Artists

Here is a handful of artist profiles. See also this (out of date) list of artists at Hobbyspace.

** Ted Brown was an Artist of the Space Age. He is not well known even among space art enthusiasts but this was not an accident. He deliberately avoided the spotlight according to Artist Profile: Ted Brown – numbers station

There are few artists in the aerospace industry whose career was as varied or accomplished as Ted Brown. Ted began as a graphic designer with Douglas in 1962, and over the next four decades carved out an enviable career: he illustrated everything from the Buck Rogers imaginings of Philip Bono, Gemini and Apollo to the Shuttle Program. His art permeates the story of space exploration. It is in industry periodicals, newspapers and books and has been since the early sixties. You know his work. He is as ubiquitous as he is anonymous and that’s something I love about him, because I imagine that is exactly how he wanted it. So, this is the story of Ted Brown.

Ted Brown stands in front of one of his murals at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in 1980. Credits: NASA

** Jonathon Keats, an “American conceptual artist and experimental philosopher“, has pursued a number of space themed projects. One of these is the “Fountain of Tolerance” in the village of Fontecchio in southern Italy. Art project creates ‘human-alien hybrids’ with meteorite-infused water – Space.com – Sept.24.2021

Keats embedded into the hillside above Fontecchio a meteorite — an ordinary chondrite, whose parent body hails from the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The space rock’s alien essence has therefore leached into the village’s groundwater and now courses through its pipes.

Those who drink from the fountain are thus infused with the essence of a space traveling alien rock

More about Keats:

** Artist Depiction is a set of documentaries on space artists created by Clindar. The first two series of films profiled six space artists – Don Davis, Charles Lindsay, Rick Guidice, Pamela Lee, William K. Hartmann, and Pat Rawlings, The short films were originally available on Amazon Prime but can now be watched for free via the Clindar Youtube channel. See two of these below. A third series of Artist Depiction will be completed in 2023. (The profile of Steve R. Dodd is now on YouTube.)

Find the latest news at Artist Depiction | A Documentary Series (@ArtistDepiction) / Twitter.

** Watch Chesley Bonestell: A Brush with the Future if you have not seen it yet.

=== Space art collections

** The on MARS project turns collections of images from the Perseverance rover into compelling montages.

This rover is equipped with 17 cameras that it used to film its descent on the red planet as well as its first steps on the Martian soil. Every day, it takes new pictures that are sent to Earth. Whether the photo is “successful” (instrument, rock; landscape) or not (black, gray, yellow or white square), the photos are published in the order in which they are received.

onMARS art prints are the result of the assembly of temporal series of photos taken by the rover, and respect the order in which these photos were captured, sent, received, processed and published here on Earth.

** The Bruce Murray Space Image Library is a Planetary Society collection of

recent and past photos and videos from the world’s space agencies, artwork, diagrams, and amateur-processed space images. Bruce Murray, Planetary Society co-founder and emeritus director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, insisted that planetary missions take photos for the public as well as for scientists. Bruce literally helped change our view of the solar system.

“This oil painting from Planetary Society member Jackie Kingon is titled ‘Sunshield'”. Credits: The Planetary Society.

Check out also the Planetary Society’s Downlink newsletter, which includes many wonderful photos and artwork, e.g. Seeing, feeling, and imagining the cosmos | The Planetary Society.

** The book Envisioning Exoplanets (Amazon commission link) includes “more than 200 remarkable illustrations from Michael Caroll, Ron Miller, and other key members of the International Association of Astronomical Artists“. Here’s one impression of the book: Review: Envisioning Exoplanets – The Space Review.

** Check out the July 2022 “Collector’s Edition: Space Art Special” issue of Astronomy magazine.

** A gallery of Russian space art: Space in Soviet and Russian art (PICS) – Russia Beyond.

=== Contests

** NASA Langley sponsors an annual Student Art Contest. Check out the finalists for the latest two contests:

“Candice Lee, an 11th-grade student from Granada Hills Charter High School in Los Angeles, California, was named the grand-prize winner of NASA Langley Research Center’s Annual Student Art Contest.” Credits: NASA’s Langley Research Center

** NASA’s Commercial Crew program sponsored the Commercial Crew 2022 Artwork Contest.  Check out the winners from over 700 entries:  Commercial Crew Program 2022 Children’s International Artwork Contest Winners.

“A display featuring the winning submissions from the Commercial Crew Program’s 2022 Children’s International Artwork Contest hangs in the common area of NASA’s Astronaut Crew Quarters at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.” Credits: NASA, Click for larger image.

** The Orbital Assembly Corporation (OAC) and Janet’s Planet recently held art contests for Youth  and Adults on the theme of promoting travel to OAC’s Voyager and Pioneer space stations. See the winning entries at 2022 Art Contest Winners.

The company LifeShip will include micro-sized reproductions of the OAC contest artworks with the company’s DNA samples going to the Moon. The LifeShip items will be part of the ARCH Mission payload on Astrobotic‘s Peregrine Lander,  which will launch in late 2022 or 2023: OAC Partners with Lifeship to Send Art to The Moon – OAC.

** The Mars Society sponsors a contest for a poster for their annual conference: Participate in our 2022 Mars Society Poster Contest – The Mars Society.

Check out last years winner: Mars Society Announces 2021 Poster Contest Winner! – The Mars Society.

** The European Space Agency (ESA) frequently sponsors art contests in the Space for Kids program. Check out winning entrants in three recent contests:

=== Space Art and Education

** NASA partners with Crayola to use art to encourage kids’ interest in STEM and space : NASA and Crayola Education Collaborate to Fuse STEM, Space, and Art | NASA – May.11.2022

NASA and Crayola Education are collaborating to infuse art and creativity with the unique teachings of space. As part of its mission to inspire the world through discovery, the agency is leveraging its compelling science, technology, engineering, and math content with Crayola’s work to bring creativity into classrooms and other learning environments. The two signed a Space Act Agreement April 28 to formalize the relationship.

=== Space Art Advocacy

**  Space Renaissance International (SRI) is a “non-profit organization based in Europe, with members and supporters all around the globe“.  SRI is

dedicated to getting humanity off-world, not just astronauts engaged in pioneering exploration, but humanity, en masse … because it is a natural progression in our development as a species.  Humanity can’t continue to live in an unsustainable manner, within a closed-system. This is what has led to many of our current cultural and socio-economic problems.

The mission of SRI is to facilitate the development of mankind as an interplanetary society, with aspirations to see humanity grow to become an interstellar civilisation.

The Space Renaissance Art & Science Festival started today at the Archenhold Observatory in Berlin. It will continue thru July 9th.  You can attend in person or virtually. Space art is a special focus of SRI and the third day of the Festival will be devoted to Space Art with over 20 presentations and panel discussions.

Here is a recent SRI video about the “important role” that “Art and Illustration play […]  in the world of aerospace engineering“. The special guest is Aldo Spadoni, “an aerospace engineer and futurist”, who is

a veteran of numerous advanced development programs for NASA, the United States Air Force and Navy. He is a recipient of NASA’s Turning Goals Into Reality award for Reusable Launch Vehicle Development. Aldo created an award-winning simulation team at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. He is President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Association of Astronomical Artists (IAAA). He is an accomplished self-taught artist and concept designer with four US patents to his credit.

Aldo’s consulting company, Aerospace Imagineering, specializes in the conceptual design, visualization and prototyping of advanced technology concepts and products. As a Hollywood technical consultant and concept designer, he supported the production of APOLLO 13, SUPERNOVA, STEALTH, IRON MAN 1 & 2, and other movie projects. He is currently the spacecraft technical advisor on the upcoming interstellar adventure film, PERSEPHONE. Aldo’s personal goals are to promote STEAM education and create compelling positive visions of humanity’s spacefaring future.

** Peter Thorpe – How Does An Artist Endeavour To Inspire People To Embrace Space? – Cold Star Technologies – YouTube

Can an artist inspire people to embrace space? This is what illustrator Peter Thorpe has been doing since the mid-1980s. Peter has typically worked as a book cover illustrator, but he has also done logos, magazine covers and posters.

** UAE program encourages interaction of art and space: MBRSC and Jsoor launch Emirates Space Art Programme – SatellitePro ME

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) has launched the Emirates Space Art Programme (ESAP), which will document, capture, and share the emotions of the UAE’s historical advances into space through the culture and creative industries.

** The Art Imaginarium at the SETI Insitute aims to build a community that welcomes those who want to explore the intersection of art and science.

Science and art are more closely connected than people might expect, with each offering the other new perspectives and insights. We’re building an artistic community where everyone feels safe in expressing themselves and exploring the limits of their imaginations. We hope that this will be a space where people respect both the art and the science.
What is art? We do not want to constrain your creativity. Want to write a song? Draw in pencil? Create digital art? Bake a cake? Use pasta and beans? Go for it.

Find the latest contributions and interactions at The Art Imaginarium hosted by SETI Institute on Facebook.

*** For example, check out the results where Artists Re-Imagine the SETI Institute “Dot”.

We invited our Art Imaginarium members to give us their take on the dot in our SETI Institute logo. They gave us versions by the dozens. From radio telescopes (including our own Allen Telescope Array) to aliens, and from geometry to math and physics, the SETI dots explored science and even philosophy.

And where Artists Interpret the Iconic Drake Equation in the Art Imaginarium.

On May 28, [2020], Frank Drake, celebrated scientist and Emeritus Trustee at the SETI Institute, turned ninety years old. To honor his birthday month, our Art Imaginarium group was challenged with Frank’s most well-known contribution to SETI, the Drake Equation. This equation seeks to put mathematical constraints on the existence of intelligent life in our own galaxy, the Milky Way.

(See also the Drake Equation Mural in a High School Physics Class – Dan’s Cosmic Diary.)

*** A couple of Art Imaginarium videos at the SETI Institute YouTube channel:

Art Imaginarium Challenge: Johannes Kepler’s ‘Somnium’:

This month, we are asking the members of our Art Imaginarium and any interested artists to create artwork inspired by what many consider the first science fiction story, Johannes Kepler’s ‘Somnium’. The challenge is presented by the Director of our SETI Artist-in-Residence program, Bettina Forget. Kepler wrote the novel in 1608, and his son published it in 1634. The novel started as a way to defend Copernicus’ view of the solar system, with characters on the Moon viewing Earth. Read a translation of the novel, done by the Somnium Project, here: https://somniumproject.wordpress.com/…​ The Art Imaginarium is a Facebook group dedicated to the space where art meets science. Why art? Science and art are more closely connected than people might expect, with each offering new perspectives and insights. We’re building a global artistic community where everyone feels safe in expressing themselves and exploring the limits of their imaginations. We hope that this will be a space where people respect both the art and the science. What is art? We do not want to constrain creativity. Want to write a song? Draw in pencil? Create digital art? Bake a cake? Use pasta and beans? Go for it. Each month, we provide members with a challenge theme. How they interpret that theme is entirely up to them. Join the challenge here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheAr...

Art Imaginarium Challenge: First Contact. Institute co-founder Jill Tarter issued this challenge to Imaginarium members in September 2020:

=== Space art history

** A brief history of artworks going to space: The artworks flown to outer space | Apollo Magazine

** Space Café WebTalk – Chris Welch – 27. April 2021 – spacewatch. global – News Room – YouTube

During this week’s SpaceCafé, SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with self-confessed “spaceist”, astronautics and space engineering expert from the International Space University, Professor Chris Welch. Now the Head of the Space Payloads Laboratory at the ISU, Professor Welch’s career in space engineering has spanned several decades across multiple universities and institutions. He was previously the Director of Kingston University’s Aerospace Research Centre, and began his academic career at Cranfield University and the University of Kent. He is also President-elected of the British Interplanetary Society and fellow at the Royal Astronomical Society. His research and teaching interests span space propulsion systems, orbit mechanics and space exploration and his contributions to the sector are award-winning. In 2009 he received the Sir Arthur Clarke Award in recognition of his work in space education and outreach.

There’s no doubt that Professor Welch is one of the most decorated space academics alive, but you may be surprised to learn that his interests go well beyond engineering: he is also a self-described ambassador and interlocutor for the arts and space. In this week’s episode, he and Torsten discuss space art’s history, its development and future.

So, what is space art? …

See also Space Café WebTalk recap – When art meets space: 33 minutes with the ISU’s Professor Chris Welch – SpaceWatch.Global.

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=== The Art of C. Sergent Lindsey ===

“SpaceX Delivers the Goods” by C. Sergent Lindsey printed on phone cover. Available at Fine Art America.

=== Amazon Ads ===

Chesley Bonestell:
A Brush With The Future

===

Envisioning Exoplanets:
Searching for Life in the Galaxy

Activism, Education, Space Arts

Space non-profits receive $1M grants from Blue Origin’s Club for the Future foundation

Good news for space education and the promotion of space development and settlement. Nineteen space-related non-profits, including several space activist organizations, will each get $1M from  Blue Origin.

Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future,
selects 19 space-based charities to each receive a $1 million grant

Today, Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, announced 19 non-profit charitable organizations will each be offered a $1 million grant to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and help invent the future of life in space. The funds are made possible by the recent auction for the first paid seat on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.

Each of the organizations selected have demonstrated a commitment to promote the future of living and working in space to inspire the next generation to explore space careers. They enhance Club for the Future’s ability to reach students, teachers, and communities, and to engage them in the excitement and adventure of innovation and space exploration.

“Our recent auction for the first seat on New Shepard resulted in a donation of $28 million to our non-profit foundation, Club for the Future,” said Bob Smith, Blue Origin CEO. “This donation is enabling Club for the Future to rapidly expand its reach by partnering with 19 organizations to develop and inspire the next generation of space professionals.  Our generation will build the road to space and these efforts will ensure the next generation is ready to go even further.”

The 19 organizations include:

  • AstraFemina is a collective of prominent leaders, including astronauts, academic professionals, and industry innovators, who have made a significant difference in the world by choosing diverse careers in STEM fields. Its mission is simple but powerful – to serve as role models to reinforce the message to today’s girls and young women that anything is possible and help bridge the gap between believing and achieving.
  • The AIAA Foundation, which is connected to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), inspires and supports the next generation of aerospace professionals. From classroom to career, the AIAA Foundation enables innovative K-12 and university programming, including STEM classroom grants, scholarships, conferences, and hands-on competitions.
  • The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) provides merit-based scholarships for college students majoring in STEM programs at more than 44 partner universities. Founded by the Mercury astronauts, ASF selects more than 50 Astronaut Scholars each year. They also provide programs focused on career development skills and virtual family activities to inspire K-12 students to positively change and innovate our future.
  • The Brooke Owens Fellowship offers paid internships and mentorship for exceptional undergrad women and gender minorities in aerospace. Its spin-off, the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship, provides extraordinary Black students with their first work experience in the aerospace industry, personalized mentorship and a cohort of similarly driven and talented young Black people pursuing aerospace careers.
  • Challenger Center, created by the families of Space Shuttle Challenger STS-51L crew, serves more than 250,000 K-12 students each year with experiential, hands-on education programs. The 40 Challenger Learning Centers deliver in-classroom and virtual simulation-based programs to bring STEM subjects to life. Students role-play real world STEM careers and cultivate teamwork, problem-solving, and communication skills.
  • Higher Orbits delivers an experiential learning lab for secondary school students across the United States. It focuses on the multi-faceted worlds of space exploration, research and spaceflight in order to launch the next generation our world desires. The organization facilitates activities from the novice to advanced level, drawing from the Science Futures by Design curriculum at Higher Orbits, to promote STEAM and prepare students for academic and career success.
  • International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is the leading space advocacy body, including all leading space agencies, numerous companies, research institutions, universities, societies, associations, institutes and museums worldwide. It’s Emerging Space Leaders Grant Program (ESL), enables students and young professionals to participate in the International Astronautical Congress, the United Nations/IAF Workshop and Space Generations Congress.
  • The National Space Society (NSS) is dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization that provides a citizen’s voice on space exploration, development, and settlement. Its mission is to promote social, economic, technological, and political change in order to expand civilization beyond Earth, to settle space and to use the resulting resources to build a hopeful and prosperous future for humanity.
  • SciArt Exchange uses a science-integrated-with-art approach to help change the world through science and technology education, collaboration and innovation. It supports, prepares and convenes people of all ages, backgrounds and affiliations to discuss, and potentially solve, space, science, and technology challenges by offering multi-disciplinary art contests, events, training, consulting, and community services.
  • Space Camp, located at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, provides a one-of-a-kind experience for campers of all ages from every state and more than 70 countries. Its curriculum teaches STEM principles, emphasizing leadership, teamwork, fun and creativity. Program instruction is aligned to national science and math standards and framed with an immersive experience amidst a backdrop of humankind’s greatest technological achievements in space hardware.
  • Space Center Houston is dedicated to inspiring all generations through the wonders of space exploration. It is a leading science and space exploration learning center, the Official Visitor Center of NASA Johnson Space Center, a Smithsonian Affiliate and Certified Autism Center. Space Center Houston empowers teachers and students with access to immersive learning experiences where they solve real-world challenges of human space exploration.
  • The Space For Art Foundation works with children in hospitals and refugee centers around the world on its mission to unite a planetary community of children through the wonder of space exploration and the healing power of art. Through large-scale space-themed art projects, the Foundation aims to highlight the connection between personal and planetary health and raise awareness of our role as crewmates here on Spaceship Earth.
  • Space For Humanity is building a foundation for an inclusive future in space by organizing the planet’s first Sponsored Citizen Astronaut Program, where leaders from any walk of life can apply for an opportunity to go to space. Through its citizen spaceflight program, leadership training, and collaborative efforts to educate the public, Space for Humanity is setting the stage to create a better world, both here on Earth and throughout the cosmos.
  • Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), in support of the United Nations Program on Space Applications, is a global non-governmental organization and network which aims to focus on pragmatic space policy advice to policy makers based on the interests of students and young professionals interested in space from around the world. The SGAC network of members, volunteers and alumni has 16,000 members from more than 165 countries.
  • Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) is an international student-led  organization whose purpose is to promote space exploration and development through educational and engineering projects. SEDS is fostering the development of future leaders and contributors in the expanding space industry through individual chapters, enabling students to be connected and create networks with each other.
  • Teachers in Space is an organization which stimulates student interest in STEM by providing teachers with extraordinary space science experiences and industry connections. As a facilitator of personal and hands-on professional development workshops for STEM teachers, it sparks a transfer of passion that prepares and encourages students to pursue further education and careers in the emerging space industry.
  • The Mars Society is an international organization devoted to furthering the exploration and settlement of Mars by both public and private means. Its activities include broad public outreach to spread its vision, STEM programs, student engineering design and Mars rover competitions, conferences, publications, and scientific projects including Mars Analog Research Stations to learn how we might best live, work, and explore on the Red Planet.
  • The Planetary Society has inspired millions of people to explore other worlds and seek other life. Led by CEO Bill Nye and powered by space enthusiasts around the globe, the Society works to advance space science and exploration through education, innovation, advocacy, and global collaboration. Its mission is to empower the world’s citizens to advance space science and exploration.
  • The Space Frontier Foundation is an organization comprised of a diverse, multinational array of space activists, scientists, engineers, media, political professionals, entrepreneurs, and passionate citizens focused on unleashing the power of free enterprise and leading a united humanity permanently into the Solar System. Through conferences, speakers, policy papers, awards and prizes, they are actively advancing the cause of “New Space.”

Club for the Future will use the remaining funds from the auction to continue its work on its space-focused curriculum and Postcards to Space program. For more information about Club for the Future, visit ClubforFuture.org.

Blue Origin’s First Human Flight will take place on July 20. For more details about the mission and how to watch the launch live, follow @BlueOrigin on Twitter or sign up for updates at BlueOrigin.com.

-Gradatim Ferociter