SPACE ART IS REAL IMPRESSIONISM

       I have often said that science fact is stranger than science fiction.  And the 21st Century images from America’s robotic explorers have taken scientific photos to an artistic level that borders on impressionism.

       Mercury, our Moon, Mars and Saturn are currently under orbital surveillance, and some of their photos are astounding abstracts of alien worlds.

       There are hundreds of images that look like works of art by Picasso, Monet or Rembrandt.  Some are Martian sand dunes, or braided rings around Saturn…and how about an Earthrise over lunar mountains?

 The fabulous photos taken by our robotic warriors in the Solar System have become as iconic as the works of art celebrated in galleries around the world.

       Now the beauty of our Solar System is being celebrated by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC with an exhibit called “Spirit and Opportunity: 10 Years Roving Across Mars.”

The Smithsonian exhibit features photos taken by the two NASA, golf cart-sized rovers that landed on opposite sides of the Red Planet in January 2004.  Some of the spectacular images remind us of vistas in the American Southwest, while others are purely alien art from what is legitimate scientific data.

Tennessee Valley on Mars

       The six-wheeled Mars Excursion Rovers were guaranteed to last 90 days, but have lasted far beyond their warranty—by more than 25 times NASA’s expectations.

       The first rover landed, Spirit, got trapped in a sandy bog and its solar rechargeable batteries died sometime in 2010.  Opportunity is still trucking, now in its 10^th year and exploring the rim of a big crater after driving almost 25 miles from its original landing spot.

       We compare these alien images to all that we know—our vision of earthly lands.  And like the great landscape artists who depict America’s western wonders, the electronic images beamed back to Earth across 50 million miles from Mars are records of worlds in their geologic glory.

       For some great Martian art, check out the Smithsonian website at http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/mer/. The exhibit is open through September 14, 2014.

       Other Mars images taken by NASA’s orbiters also tickle the artist vision, like sand dunes and polar caps that often look like bizarre artwork from surrealists like Dali.

Martian Sand Dunes

       For pure alien abstraction on canvass, it’s hard to beat the amazing images of NASA’s billion dollar Cassini spacecraft and its subject of Saturn, its shattered rings and retinue of 62 moons.  The juxtaposition of rings, moons and the butterscotch globe of our sixth planet give us a billion-mile perspective that can be jaw-dropping. 

       There are photos of a cratered moon against the blackness with edge-wise rings bisecting the crescent planet in the background.  Not to be outdone by the amazing hexagonal shape of the South Pole vortex that is as a dramatic image as it is a physical anomaly that has planetary atmospheric scientists scratching their heads—both left and right brain merging in amazement. 

Saturn's rings and moons

       The Cassini website is filled with photos that boggle the mind as the interplay of sunlight reflecting off the rings can illuminate Saturn’s night side and give an eerie look never seen by human eyes.  Like the amazing photo taken in July 2014 from the backside of Saturn, eclipsing the Sun and showing the Earth as a pale, blue “star” in the sky.

Apollo 8 Earthrise

       There are many historical images from NASA’s space exploration have been ingrained as classic artwork in our minds.  Like the Earth rising over the Moon as first seen by orbiting Apollo 8 in 1968. Or Buzz Aldrin on the Moon with photographer Neil Armstrong’s reflection in his gold face plate.  Or the free-floating image of America’s first spacewalker, Ed White.  And you can't leave out the beauty of our planet Earth from orbit 200 miles high--always keeping astronauts aboard the International Space Station pressed against their windows.  

       Some of the most amazing space art has been taken by the Galileo spacecraft of the 1990s when it spent 8 years orbiting Jupiter.  The swirling colors of the intense cloud bands whipping around the largest planet can look like colored oils mixing in water.  Looking at the complex clouds of Jupiter brings Van Gogh to mind.  Toss in the four giant moons and another 60 smaller moons and the imagery from the Galileo spacecraft can be mind-boggling.

       Space art is not just limited to our Solar System as images from the Hubble Space Telescope have become iconic images of our modern times.  Two amazing Hubble photos that have become part of our culture of art include “The Pillars of Creation” and “Hubble Deep Space Galaxies”, each a scientific bonanza that are imagery as beautiful as any canvass painted by a fine artist.

Pillars of Creation by Hubble Space Telescope

       Outer space has been depicted by masters of the space art genre like Chesley Bonestell in the 1950s, to Don Davis of the ’70s and Joe Tucciarone of today. Though what comes out of space artists' minds is based on fact, the "real thing" captured by the imaging electronics of interplanetary robots can blow our minds. Arguably, the vast catalog of two decades of Hubble images contains hundreds of space art masterpieces.

       One unique aspect about all the images captured by NASA's spacecraft during the past 50 years of space exploration--there are no copyrights.  Because American taxes paid for these space probes, their images are accessible free to anybody in the world to do with them as they please.  The Hubble website encourages the printing of its images--even offering some mega files of some photos to cover a wall!  A visit to NASA's website will direct you to any of its spacecraft and their fantastic space images. 

       As mankind probes deeper into the Universe for the facts, our mind can’t be separated from the esoteric beauty of what we find.  It’s just part of the human experience that we bring to the quest of alien worlds.