Category Archives: Space Arts

Contests and Games, Space Arts, Space Science

Poetry and student art heading for Mars

Expected to launch to Mars in November, the MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission) spacecraft

will explore the planet’s upper atmosphere, ionosphere and interactions with the sun and solar wind. Scientists will use MAVEN data to determine the role that loss of volatile compounds, such as CO2, N2, and H2O, from the Mars atmosphere to space has played over time, giving insight into the history of Mars atmosphere and climate, liquid water, and planetary habitability.

The spacecraft will also carry a DVD with over 1100 haiku poems selected in the outreach contest Going to Mars. Here the five Contest winners, which received more than 1000 votes in the public voting:

It’s funny, they named
Mars after the God of War
Have a look at Earth
Benedict Smith
United Kingdom

Thirty-six million
miles of whispering welcome.
Mars, you called us home.
Vanna Bonta
USA

Stars in the blue sky
cheerfully observe the Earth
while we long for them
Luisa Santoro
Italy

distant red planet
the dreams of earth beings flow
we will someday roam
Greg Pruett
Idaho, USA

Mars, your secret is unknown for humanity we want to know you.

Fanni Redenczki
Hungary

Alan Boyle reports on the contest at MAVEN mission team / picks haiku for Red Planet / We’re green with envy – NBC News.com.

Find more space poetry resources here, including an epic poem about Mars settlement.

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Also on the DVD will be digital images of student art selected in the Going to Mars student art contest:

Young people from all over the world submitted 377 unique entries into the Going to Mars student art contest! The contest ran from May 15 to April 8 and was followed by online public voting to determine the First and Second Place winners. The total number of votes on all entries was nearly 82,000!

As a special recognition of the inspiring artwork we received, we are pleased to announce that all 377 entries will be included as digital files on the DVD that will fly to Mars onboard the MAVEN spacecraft!

History, Space Arts, Space Systems

Horizons reproduction of Colliers Magazine space series – issues 5 & 6

As I posted back in February and March , the Horizons Newsletter of  the AIAA Houston Section has been publishing full reproductions of all eight issues that Colliers magazine published between March 1952 and April 1954 with articles on space. The writers included Wernher von Braun, Willy Ley and other space notables of the time. The wonderful illustrations were created by Chesley Bonestell, Fred Freeman and Rolf Klep. The covers of the space issues are shown here:
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(In addition to the team at Horizons, the project includes Scott Lowther.)
Since my posts, Horizons has released reproductions of the fifth and sixth Colliers sets of space articles.
  • 5th Colliers space issue:
    • March/April 2013 Issue (74 pages) (PDF: low resolution, 18.5MB; high resolution, 53.5MB) Volume 38, Number 5
    • Includes an account (pdf) by one of the Horizon’s team of his interaction with Robert Heinlein in 1957
  • 6th Colliers space issue:
    • May/June 2013 issue (PDF, 17 MB, 56 pages):  low resolution version (PDF, 7.5 MB, 56 pages). Volume 38, Number 6. (High res version not yet available.)

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Ron Miller has an article with lots of great graphics about the spaceflight plan laid out in the Colliers series: The Great 1952 Space Program That Almost Was – io9.com.

Activism, Space Arts

Renate Pohl and the 7 Weeks to Space Bootcamp

Artist Renate Pohl at Artspaceport.com (a current advertiser here at HS) on Friday introduced her 7 Weeks To Space Bootcamp:

Register for the 7 Weeks to Space Bootcamp

There are 7 modules in the 7 Weeks to Space Bootcamp. Register by July 23 to save over 50%!

Creative, Compassionate Artists: Are you ready to finally get noticed and get your work out there in a BIG way?

You know that you are ready for success. You’re frustrated from knocking on doors with no response! You’re tired of playing, and feeling, small.

It’s your time to share your meaningful work with the world in an astronomical way.

I am here to help you skyrocket your artistic business by putting a plan in place to get your work into the stratosphere….and beyond!

The 7 Weeks to Space Bootcamp is developed by an artist, for artists, to teach you everything you need to know to get your art into space – in 7 steps.

Rockets, Space Arts

“R is for Rocket” with brilliant color

I really like this book cover artwork: Book Cover, R is For Rocket by Ray Bradbury – The Original Rocket Dungeon

Book Cover, R is For Rocket by Ray Bradbury
R is for Rocket
by Ray Bradbury
Education, Space Arts, Space participation

Video: Youth art displayed in space

Here is a very nicely done video made on the International Space Station showing the wonderful artworks of the winners and finalists in the Humans in Space Youth Art Contest displayed on a tablet with the station’s Cupola module windows in the background. Astronaut Chris Hadfield gives an introduction. The soundtrack music is also from one of the entrants.

Caption:

The international Humans in Space Youth Art Competition calls for youth 10-18 years old to “be inspired, creative and heard.” We invite them to learn about space and communicate their visions of the future of space travel and exploration through visual, literary, video, and musical artwork.

This years theme addresses the question, “How will humans use science and technology to explore space in the future, and what mysteries will we uncover?”

For more information, please visit www.humansinspaceart.org