Visual Metaphors of the Universe
Here is a group of paintings where I bind the Universe to familiar things in a way more poetic than literal. So much of space art has been focused on what a viewer might really see from, say, the surface of Mars. I became interested in showing what can never be photographed, only imagined. Inspired by real science, these visual metaphors have a different layer of meaning. The Backbone of Night from COSMOS The !Kung people of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana describe the Milky Way as the "backbone of night". In 1973 Carl Sagan asked me for a painting...
How the First Ever Image of Mars Was Hand-Drawn
In late 1964, two missions were launched by NASA with destination Mars! They were Mariner 3 and Mariner 4. Both of them were sent to flyby the Red Planet and take the first pictures and scientific observations, transmitting to Earth precious information about interplanetary space and Mars. At that point in history no one had ever seen how Mars looked like. There was a lot of speculation and with earth telescopes it was possible to see that Mars had an atmosphere and changes in color and many so dark patterns forming seasonally. So there was a hope in many that...
My Messages To Mars
On Aug.5, 2012 NASA landed the Curiosity rover on Mars to begin a two-year science on Mars at Gale Crater, near the Martian equator. There are features there that were formed by water long ago, so it is a good place to explore for ancient signs of life. Curiosity is filled with complex instruments to study Mars’ surface and atmosphere. But Curiosity also carries a simple experiment for schoolkids on Earth: a sundial to watch. In the same way a sundial is used on Earth, this martian shadow can reveal the season, latitude, and time of day on Mars. The...
Astro-Artist of the Month - May 2013: Jon Lomberg
Jon Lomberg is one of the world's leading artists inspired by science, whose work has been seen by over one billion people worldwide. His images range from fine art and museum displays to computer graphics for the media. He is an Emmy Award winning television art director (" COSMOS "), a muralist for the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum ( Portrait of the Milky Way ), and an award winning science reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s program IDEAS. He designed the astronomical animation for the Warner Brothers film " CONTACT ", based on Carl Sagan's novel, for...
Soy bread
Soy bread is one of the recipes developed to be used in a habitat where crops are grown, harvested and processed for crew consumption. NASA-sponsored research projects at various colleges have established that bell peppers, cabbage, carrots, beans, lettuce, green onions, herbs, peanuts, potatoes, radishes, rice, soybeans, spinach, strawberries, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and wheat are all potential candidates for successful space agriculture. Ingredients for this Soy Bread could be derived from these plants along with minimum supplies brought from Earth. Recipe: 3/4 cup +2 tbsp plain soymilk 1 tbsp peanut oil 2 tsp dry active yeast 2 tbsp sugar 1...
Subcategories
ASTROCraft
Astronomers Without Borders' AstroCrafts web blog presented by Kathleen Horner will share a unique variety of creative, educational and fun astronomy-related crafts inspired by the cosmos in which we live. The AstroCrafts page projects will be presented periodically throughout the year for the whole family that involves hands on arts and crafts that will teach us about the wonders of our universe. The projects are especially a great resource for schools and other organizations, too. The AstroCrafts projects is another way we can discover our own inner artist and find personal expression of what we see and feel in the cosmic life that is all around us.
