Week 9: Space and Art

This weeks topic of Space and Art is the perfect way to sum up the past 9 weeks of material that we have covered in this class. Concepts like Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, robots, mathematics and others are all used in outer space. Nicholas Copernicus used mathematics to propose the idea that the sun was the centre of the universe. However, he feared that publicizing this idea would contradict the teachings of the Catholic Church, so he delayed the publication. Copernicus hugely influenced the world, and this influence is still evident today. A crater on the moon was even named after him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernican_heliocentrism

(Copernicus' theory)

Nanotechnology is used in outer space. Today's rocket engines rely on chemical propulsion or electrical propulsion. A nanotechnology EP concept proposes to utilize nanoparticles as a propellant. Millions of nanoparticles would fit on one square centimetre, allowing the fabrication of highly scalable thruster arrays.

http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-in-space.php

(Nanotechnology in Space)

Carl Sagan described the earth as "a pale blue dot." He got this idea from an image taken by Voyager 1 on February 14th, 1990. The Voyager 1 was about 6.4 billion kilometres away, and when it captured the image Earth appeared to be nothing more than a tiny dot. In a small excerpt he states "That's here.  That's home. That's us. On it everyone you know, everyone you love, everyone you've ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives."

http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/earth/pale-blue-dot.html

(A Pale Blue Dot, 1994)

An artist that incorporates Space into her art is Chelsey Bonestell. He was an American pioneer of space art who helped popularize manned space travel. He is world renowned for his paintings and special effects drawings of outer space, which are used on popular space websites and magazines.

http://www.bonestell.org/#prettyPhoto

(Saturn as seen from Titan, 1952)

Works Cited

"Bonestell - Home." Bonestell - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2016. 

"A Pale Blue Dot." The Planetary Society Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2016. 

Vesna, Victoria. Uconlineprogram. "8 Space Intro 1280x720." YouTube. YouTube, 29 July 2013. Web. 19 May 2016.

Vesna, Victoria. Uconlineprogram. "Lecture 1." YouTube. YouTube, 29 July 2013. Web. 19 May 2016.

"Nanotechnology in Space." Nanowerk. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2016. 

"The Copernican Model: A Sun-Centered Solar System." The Copernican Model: A Sun-Centered Solar System. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2016.