The Advertisement of Space Travel

 During our visit to JPL one of the most interesting aspects of a fully funded science program was the fact that they had a whole team dedicated to the visualization and artistic development of space. This really impressed me mainly because art seems to typically be in a lesser category when it comes from a scientific mindset. Out of all the projects that Dan Good's team showed us, I was immediately drawn to the the Exoplanet travel posters. Coming from a heavy film background, I really love the cinematic taste of the planets as well as the vintage take on space travel that helps get the public really interested in space from a visual point of view.
I started looking into Exoplanets and what particularly makes they inhabitable and found this great video that explains what exactly makes an Exoplanet safe for humans and goes more into the terminology surrounding the topic. It is also great because it mentions the visualization of these plants are an artists interpretation and might be the exact opposite of the planets actual characteristics. 

However, scientist have learned certain criteria that the Exoplanets do meet, and then work with artists to help create an estimated visualization of the surface, environment, and overall planet as well as the star that it orbits. In the next video, it further explains the relationship between science and artists when it comes to Exoplanets and beyond. 

On the other hand, what JPL is doing takes the creative interpretation of the Exoplanets and advertises the futuristic human consumer point of view. They are combining the natural appeal of travel and culture with actual facts of “far off lands” of foreign planets. It works not only because it is a really fascinating scientific topic but also because it is not overly or exclusively about space. It is more involving the human need to have fun and go on adventures that just happen to be in space.

When we were talking to the team that developed the posters, they mentioned that Time Magazine published an article about them concerning the project.

http://time.com/3659519/nasa-vintage-exoplanet-travel-posters/

In the article, they mention that this project is “capturing the excitement of space exploration” and that excitement is almost entirely directed at the common man, rather than a trained astronaut. They also mention that the actual travel to these planets are “impossible to visit in person with any current technology, so until we build a Star Trek-style warp drive or discover an Interstellar-esque worm hole, a trip to an Exoplanet will have to remain a dream” just that comment invertible directs the reader into the mind set of magical exploration and hyper realistic space travel as seen produced by Hollywood and enjoyed by people of all ages. Most people will look at these travel posters will think of Star Trek, Interstellar, or some other space cult-classic and will be absolutely thrilled that the technology is not impossible but can be imagined as such a normal way thinking. This will spark the interest of all ages and future generations to come in such an unconventional way.

Low-Density Supersonic Decelerators

            Visiting the Jet Propulsion Lab in Los Angeles this past Friday was probably one of the most rad field trips I have been on to date, and there are more coming which not only excites but stimulates the Art & Science juices to flow for this semester. After seeing all there was to see one of the things that caught my attention the most was the future possibility of landing humans on Mars. I went out and bought The Martian this past weekend and have begun reading it, and the idea of traveling to Mars and having research taking place there with hands-on scientists is ridiculously cool. The LDSD (Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator), a technology for landing loads on Mars, is being tested currently for the future of human missions to Mars. At the Mars yard this was skimmed over and not developed too much in the short lecture, so I took it upon myself to do some more research into the journey of the LDSD.

             https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasas-ldsd-project-completes-second-experimental-test-flight

            Above is the link to the article on NASA’s website documenting the testing of the new LDSDs. As NASA continues research on these supersonic decelerators they are testing the amount of mass it is capable of carrying, the type of landing they can get with new design of the technology’s structure and the type of balloons used in the landing process, as well as the building of a supersonic decelerator that can carry humans.

            In relation to art, the people working on the LDSDs are designers, figuring out how to make the parachute that is now being tested in the landing of these objects inflate and not be destroyed upon atmospheric entry. There was a recent test where the parachute failed and tore during testing.

           

           This video is from about a year ago but it shows the process that is taking place in testing the LDSDs.                                          

 They are turning out varying designs, just like artists do when brainstorming a new project, and working on making their work sound, similar to a sculptor, painter, or installation artist. These supersonic decelerators can be classified as pieces of art simply due to the fact that each piece put together has been designed by a scientist to make sure that the finished product is viable for flight and landing, creating a working sculpture of interstellar travel.

            https://blogs.nasa.gov/ldsd/

            LDSD NASA has it’s own blog on the progress they are making in the creation of a suitable for a human trip to the Red Planet.

What Will We Miss? (and other awesome science videos)

For those of you who have never heard of VSauce, host Michael Stevens answers scientific and philosophical questions in the most interesting way imaginable. I have watched every single one of his videos and I have learned so much. If you are ever in need of some brain food, you know where to go. 

In this video, he talks about events that will happen billions of years from now, both on earth and in deep space. His videos take on a variety of topics such as linguistics, technology, perception, and so much more. You can check out more of them here.

Carleigh Koger- 'Elizabeth Jameson, neuroscientific artist '

I found Elizabeth James through this link, there are a few other cool artists on there too. (http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2012/07/start/the-big-question)
She is a neuroscientific artist who uses MRI's to create visual art.
Here is the link to her website, super interesting!
http://www.jamesonfineart.com

Katie Peck: Cymatics

     Super stoked about the progress Olivia and I made on our collaboration for the first project.   We are working with cymatics which is, "allowing us to see into the otherwise hidden geometry in sound and frequencies which form matter".   Here is a video of when we figured out we could use music rather then just changing the hertz of the speaker to create the geometric patterns in the water. We did this by setting a lid of a paint can on a speaker and filling it with enough to cover the bottom completely.  Don't mind my horrible filming and commentary! Also let us know if you have any ideas or would like to collaborate!

     If you want to read a little more about cymatics check out this link! http://themindunleashed.org/2013/11/cymatics-sound-consciousness.

Khaing Shwe - Tomorrowland

I am not sure if you guys have watched this movie. It's a story about "Tomorrowland" - a place that exist somewhere in "time and space" - created by scientists and artists. I think it is a good example of how our world can be creative with scientists and artists' minds combined together. The following link gives us a plot summary movie and trailer for it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1964418/

Dani Planto: The Future of Science... Is Art?

http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/the_future_of_science_is_art/