Category Archives: Space Arts

ESA Cheops exoplanet space telescope to carry plaques engraved with children’s artwork

The European Space Agency (ESA)

Artwork unveiled on exoplanet satellite 

Two titanium plaques etched with thousands of miniaturised drawings made by children have been fixed to the CHaracterizing ExOPlanets Satellite, Cheops. Each plaque measures nearly 18 cm across and 24 cm high. The plaques, prepared by a team at the Bern University of Applied Sciences in Burgdorf, Switzerland, were unveiled in a dedicated ceremony at RUAG on 27 August 2018. Credits : G. Bucher – Bern University of Applied Sciences

27 August 2018: Two plaques etched with thousands of miniaturised drawings made by children have been unveiled in a dedicated ceremony held today in Switzerland.

Three years ago, thousands of children were inspired by the study of planets beyond our Solar System and translated their imagination into beautiful drawings, which feature a variety of planets and other cosmic settings. Out of the many excellent entries, over 2700 were selected to fly on ESA’s Characterising Exoplanet Satellite, Cheops.

The artwork plates mounted on the Cheops spacecraft.

Cheops will make high-precision measurements of stars, monitoring the small changes in brightness due to the transit of a planet across the star’s disc, in order to determine the planet’s size. Combined with known information about the planet’s mass, Cheops will enable the density of the planet to be calculated, and as such determine if it is a rocky, icy, or even a water-world for example – a first step to characterise exoplanets.

“Cheops is ESA’s first small-class science mission and its task is big. The first step characterisation of the Earth-to-Neptune size planets that Cheops will target is an essential step to piecing together what these planets are made of, and towards the long-term search for habitable worlds beyond our own Solar System,”says Jan Wörner, ESA Director General.

“This unique satellite, the product of European collaboration, has already inspired the young generation, seen in the drawings engraved on the plaques unveiled today as Cheops begins its final stages of preparations before moving to the launch site.”

While the satellite was being assembled earlier this year, a team at the Bern University of Applied Sciences in Burgdorf, Switzerland miniaturized the drawings and engraved them onto two titanium plates. Each plaque measures nearly 18 cm across and 24 cm high.

The spacecraft has recently completed a series of tests at RUAG Space in Zurich, Switzerland, and today was presented to media and invited guests with the two plaques now attached.

Cheops will soon travel to ESA’s technical centre in the Netherlands where the satellite will undergo acoustic and radio-frequency compatibility tests during September, concluding the environmental test campaign. The spacecraft will then return to Airbus Defence and Space, Spain for final tests before shipment to Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

Artist’s impression of Cheops in orbit.

The satellite, which is implemented as a partnership between ESA and Switzerland, is on track to complete all planned test activities by the end of the year.

Once in Earth orbit Cheops will begin to characterise some of the many extrasolar worlds already discovered, many of which are similar to those depicted in the inspired artwork that will fly into space with this exciting mission.

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Video: Abby Garrett and “Go for Launch” comic books for kids

Check out this Epic Future Space interview with author and artist Abby Garrett who has created a series of terrific comics for youngsters on the theme of rockets:

A cover from one of the “Go for Launch: Merlin & His Friends” books, which brings to life the SpaceX rockets:

GO FOR LAUNCH: Merlin & His Friends – children’s books written and illustrated by Abby Garrett

The cover of the first Go For Launch book:

GO FOR LAUNCH COMIC VOL. 1: 32-page Go For Launch Comic Vol. 1.

See some of the pages in the books on her COMICS webpage

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Voyager mission posters and infographics

The two Voyager spacecraft were launched in 1977 and successfully visited the gas giant planets of our solar system before heading out into interstellar space. The nuclear powered vehicles are still operating and sending data back to earth.

Check out these posters and infographics from NASA JPL in celebration of the Voyager missions.

The Grand Tour – JPL Travel Poster: NASA’s Voyager mission took advantage of a once-every-175-year alignment of the outer planets for a grand tour of the solar system. The twin spacecraft revealed details about Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune – using each planet’s gravity to send them on to the next destination. Voyager set the stage for such ambitious orbiter missions as Galileo to Jupiter and Cassini to Saturn. Today both Voyager spacecraft continue to return valuable science from the far reaches of our solar system.
The Voyagers Rock On: Thanks to the twin Voyager spacecraft, music is truly universal: Each carries a Golden Record with sights, sounds and songs from Earth as it sails on through the Milky Way. Recalling the classic rock era of the late 1970s when the Voyagers launched, this poster is an homage to the mission’s greatest hits. Some of the most extraordinary discoveries of the probes’ first 40 years include the volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io, the hazy nitrogen atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan and the cold geysers on Neptune’s moon Triton. Voyager 1 is also the first spacecraft to deliver a portrait of our planets from beyond Neptune, depicting Earth as a ‘pale blue dot,’ and, as of Aug. 25, 2012, to enter interstellar space. Voyager 2 is expected to enter interstellar space in the coming years. Even after 40 years, the Voyagers’ hits just keep on coming.
The Voyagers: Reaching for the Stars: The twin Voyager spacecraft, which launched in 1977, are our ambassadors to the rest of the Milky Way, destined to continue orbiting the center of our galaxy for billions of years after they stop communicating with Earth. On Aug. 25, 2012, Voyager 1 became the first human-made object to enter interstellar space, and Voyager 2 is expected to cross over in the next few years. At age 40, the Voyagers are the farthest and longest-operating spacecraft and still have plenty more to discover. This poster captures the spirit of exploration, the vastness of space and the wonder that has fueled this ambitious journey to the outer planets and beyond.

Infographics:

Voyager Mission Timeline

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JPL Mission Paths: See how many NASA/JPL past & present missions flew around the universe.

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Video: Ridley Scott creates mission patch for ISS US National Laboratory

A message from  The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS):

Filmmaker Ridley Scott Creates
2018 International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory Mission Patch
Mission patch represents all International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory research in 2018

Kennedy Space Center, FL (June 13th, 2018)  The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) today announced the unveiling of its latest mission patch, designed by award-winning filmmaker and producer, Sir Ridley Scott. The mission patch represents all payloads intended for the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory in calendar year 2018. CASIS is the organization tasked by NASA with managing research on the U.S. National Laboratory onboard the space station. Research leveraging the ISS National Lab is intended to utilize microgravity for the benefit of life on Earth.

The space station is an ever-evolving research platform capable of enabling research not possible on Earth. As manager of the ISS National Lab, CASIS is responsible for educating and expanding the research opportunities available through this one-of-a-kind facility. By working with Fortune 500 companies, innovative startups, esteemed academic institutions, other government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, the ISS National Lab is fostering a new era of space-based research. The mission patch collaboration with Ridley Scott (like other mission patches announced in recent years) seeks to engage and excite the general public, while representing hundreds of experiments expected to launch to the ISS National Lab in 2018.

During his career as a filmmaker, Ridley Scott has immersed himself in some of the more iconic science fiction feature films of the past five decades. Prominent movies within the science fiction community that Scott has directed or produced (through his production company, Scott Free Productions) include the Alien franchise, Blade Runner, Legend, and The Martian. His love of space exploration and his previous working relationships with NASA helped to forge this mission patch collaboration with CASIS and the ISS National Lab.

The patch design is focused on a female astronaut in full gear, in the infiniteness of space, looking toward the space station. Scott deemed astronauts to be saints for their brave efforts to explore on behalf of humanity. Within the patch, Scott intended the helmet of the astronaut to be interpreted as a halo, saying

“therefore the helmet itself would become… a subliminal suggestion of a saint.”

“I can feel these scientists, and they are so passionate about what they do. You’re a bunch of actual enthusiasts…which is exactly who I am,” Scott said.

To learn more about this collaboration, watch a video on the making of the mission patch here:

To understand the on-orbit capabilities of the ISS National Lab, including research initiatives launched in 2018, visit www.iss-casis.org

Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean dies at 86

Astronaut, Moon walker and artist, Alan Bean has passed away at the age of 86 following an illness that came on two weeks ago while traveling : Alan Bean Family Obituary Statement | NASA

Bean was the lunar pilot on the Apollo 12 mission and he and mission commander Pete Conrad explored the Moon’s Ocean of Storms in November 1969.

Bean became an accomplish artist after retiring from the astronaut corps. See galleries of his works at Alan Bean Art. He had been allowed to keep the name patch from his Apollo EVA suit and it turned out to be saturated with space dust. He would crush a tiny bit of the patch into the paints used for his lunar renderings.

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Another NASA video about Bean: