Globe photo by Christian Fischer. Illustration by Renate Pohl.

You may be wondering just what has been happening to Chris Hadfield during his medical tests this week after the Soyuz landing in Kazakhstan on May 14th. Back in March, I wrote a Breathing Space article on one of the issues that he may have to deal with in space, and the role art has to play in the arena of space medicine.

Here’s an excerpt from the article, A Blurry, Beautiful View:

Chris Hadfield, soon-to-be commander of the International Space Station, strums the final chords of I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing?) and releases his six-string guitar, letting it spin gently and silently in microgravity. The song, written by Hadfield and Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies, and performed with the Wexford Gleeks, is a partnership project with Music Monday, CBC Music and the Canadian Space Agency. Music Monday coalition director Holly Nimmons is calling on all Canadians to learn the song and “fill the skies with music” on May 6, with Hadfield beaming down via satellite as a symbol of national connection and international cooperation. Space and art are the main ingredients holding together this inspirational and feel-good event.

It’s an event reminiscent of Guy Laliberté’s Poetic Social Mission of 2009, when the Cirque du Soleil founder became a space ringmaster for 11 days, raising money and consciousness for water usage on earth. Popular and easily accessible cultural and humanitarian events such as these make a whole lot of emotional sense against the backdrop of the earth. In fact, it is this very big shift in perspective when looking back at the earth, known as the Overview Effect, which Hadfield and Robertson allude to in their song. Astronauts who experience this effect recognize that the national and political boundaries of earth become blurred from this wider vantage point. What is not mentioned, however, is that Hadfield, due to his extended time in microgravity, may need to deal with another very big shift in perspective, one where the earth itself may become a little too blurry.

You can read the rest of the article at this link.

In the meantime, I’ll be cross posting some of my Breathing Space articles to this blog.
The first article is all about the relationship between Space Law and Policy and Art.

Here’s an excerpt:

The glittery, silver luggage tag on my suitcase reads “fly me to the moon”. It came free with a bottle of wine consumed one summer night back in 2011. It’s a tag worthy of Elle Woods, the indefatigable heroine of Legally Blonde, who shows up on the steps of Harvard Law School with more sparkle than counsel. As the only artist attending International Space University last summer, I suddenly found myself with a deep and profound connection to Elle Woods – excepting the blondeness.

Seated among of some of the brightest up-and-coming minds in the space industry for my first lecture on space law, I felt a combination of elation and terror. How could I possibly comprehend this subject, despite their promises that it would be accessible to all disciplines? I comforted myself with the fact that unlike Elle, I had read the textbook in advance. I was determined to find my way into the material, on a mission to discover what the arts could contribute to space law and policy.

The International Space University, located in Strasborg, France, holds a nine-week space studies program in a different global location each summer. The intercultural, interdisciplinary, and international credo of the university allows for a diverse group of participants to experience and learn about the broad aspects of the space industry and to become part of the growing “new space mafia” that lives and breathes space. In this column, I’ll be exploring the subjects that form the core of the space studies program and the space industry, through the unique filter of humanities. This week, I’ll be starting with a lesser-known aspect of the industry: space law and policy.

Sci-fi treaties

While on the surface space law is decidedly un-artsy, it attempts to answer questions seemingly more fit for the plot of a sci-fi novel than real life. If a satellite de-orbits and crashes into a farm, who is liable for the damages? Does the USA own the portion of the moon where the American Flag was planted? If an astronaut accidentally lands in your backyard, are they guaranteed safe passage home? If a private company starts mining an asteroid, do they own the resources?

You can read the rest of the article here.

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Renae DeLiz ‘s very cool comic anthology featuring a female space artist on the cover.

Space Comics hold a special place in the history of space art. Although many were originally heavily influenced by early sci-fi novels, there are so many branches of space/art comics now that it’s easy to satisfy any space tooth, be it pulpy, horrific, adventurous, silly, cynical, mystic, or just good-old educational.

Here are some online space comic goodies to get you inspired to create your own comics:

• NASA’s Gallery of Space Comic Books   – a handful of classic covers
• What Really Happened to Apollo 13? – an online gem from NASA Space Comics
• Space Avalanche – a biting look at the social effects of space weather
• It’s Hardly Rocket Science – adorable Kerbals in space (take a peek at the Kerbal Space Program)
• Comics From Space! – a fun indie series by Dewey
• The Adventures of Alibi Jones – a mediator in The Solar Alliance Interplanetary Force
• Womanthology:  Space – a 5-part space comic anthology created by women, for charity

While all of the above are fabulous in their own unique way, I have to tip my hat to the Womanthology:  Space project, which is the genius sequel to the Womanthology:  Heroic anthology, a wildly successful kickstarter project by Renae De Liz that brought together established and young female artists to create comics for charity. The Space series is an enchanting, educational, adventurous, magical and sometimes sexy blend of space stories from an all-female perspective.  Picked up by IDW for publishing, it drew artists and writers from an open forum of applicants of all ages and experience levels, a refreshingly inclusive and transparent creation. The 5th and final comic has yet to be released at the time of this blog posting, but I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for it in my local comic book shop. You can purchase the series here, follow the Womanthology blog or like the Womanthology Facebook page to stay up to date on the next edition.

Read any of the above, and you’ll no doubt be inspired to doodle your way to Mars.

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Turok’s physics lovin’ universe from http://www.houseofanansi.com

“It’s the story of science and technology, but it is also the story of who we are: amazing creative humans.”

This quote from The CBC Massey Lectures Website sums up the lecture series that recently wrapped up after a month of cross-Canada travel. I was fortunate to be able to attend the very first lecture “Magic That Works” in St. John’s, Newfoundland. I was thrilled to see the theatre (where I had been set painting for Grease the week before) was just as packed for physics lovin’ as it was for Summer Lovin’. Even better, It turns out that Neil Turok, one of the world’s leading physicists, and Director of Canada’s Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics,is a kindred spirit. He is determined to make science accessible to all, bless his theoretical socks.

Holding to this mandate, the entire Massey Lecture Series will be aired from November 12th to 16th, 2012, starting at 9:30pm Nfld time (that’s 8PM EST) on CBC Radio One IDEAS. If you aren’t available to listen live, you will be able to download the lectures through itunes after the broadcast.

In addition to this, you can take a stroll through the “Massey Experience” immersive webpage, which expands on all five lectures and provides additional links to other video goodies, such as this charming animated video “Real World Telekinesis” which summarizes the discovery of light in 5 minutes.

But wait! There’s more! You can also enter to win a trip to the Perimeter Institute and see the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland. This contest closes November 15, 2012, so be sure to enter in time.

And if you miss all that…well, not to worry. You can always go the old fashioned route and ask for a copy of The Universe Within for your holiday gift this year. (HINT:  Use Use the promo code PERIMETER and recieve a 25% discount when orderingThe Universe Within directly from House of Anansi Press.) I know what I’ll be asking Santa for this year…

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Come in to my Parlour, said Galaxy IC 342 to the Sky (Photo Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Do you ever find yourself stretching ideas like strands of silk, to see how far they could possibly go? Have you ever imagined connecting seemingly disparate ideas into a fantastic network of gossamer engineering? If you are the type of person who is at their best while unfurling their invisible skills of linkage, you may be well suited to lesser-known sectors of the space industry:  Spin-off and Spin-in.

Spin-off refers to the transference of technology developed for the space industry out into other industries. There are thousands of spin-off products with surprising everyday benefits, including toothpaste that you can swallow, improved sports equipment, medical devices, insulating paint, and a home kitchen gardening appliance. The attractive and interactive spin-off website NASA@ Home and City is bursting with interesting and inspiring examples of space-born ideas given a makeover on earth.

NASA @ HOME AND CITY Website Screenshot

NASA’s 2011 spin-off “magazine” is available for free download as a 224-page illustrated pdf or as a shorter 11-page summary brochure.

Walk along NASA’s web – click to download!

If after browsing these resources you are inspired to spin some ideas of your own, check out NASA’s partner page for links to research and development partnering tools. This is one example of many entry points into partnership and funding. You can also explore similar partnership options that may be available through other space agencies. 

The SpiderFab Concept by Tethers Unlimited, Inc.

The mirror of spin-off is spin-in, the transfer of technology into the space industry. This type of innovation can be seen in the very literal example of the SpiderFab project developed by Tethers Unlimited. This project brings popularized 3-D printing to the cosmos by proposing to shoot the space equivalent of printer and ink into orbit and “print” a spacecraft, thereby saving on launch costs. It also happens to be modeled on a spiderweb, literally using nature as a spin-in device. Now that is impressive creative thinking.

Do you have any great ideas for spin-off or spin-in? I’ll love to hear about them. Feel free to post in the comments below.

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This one time at space camp…

Whew! After a very busy and intense couple of months of Space Studies at International Space University in Florida, I’ve landed back in Canada with my head stuffed full of new  ideas and a boatload of new (mostly engineering) friends scattered all over the globe. I also met some of my favorite people, including George Diller, voice of NASA and Jancy McPhee, director of the Humans in Space Youth Art Competition.

I’ve learned some really interesting things about the relationship between art and space, which I’ll be doling out in posts to come. But for now, suffice it to say that the space industry needs artists, in unexpected and urgent ways. Curiosity has landed on Mars (hooray!), but if we are going to follow up and get people there, we’ll need to enlist the help of everyone, include non-engineers like you!

Today, I’d like to share with you a newsletter that I helped put together – it represents the experience of the group of Canadians during their 9 weeks of study at ISU SSP12 this summer. You may be surprised at the amazing amount of activity we accomplished in 9 weeks, including witnessing two rocket launches at NASA from a VIP balcony. Just click on the image below to download the PDF. While you are reading, keep in mind that I was able to be deeply involved with over a hundred space-loving people, and spend everyday learning and thinking about space – and I am not a scientist. I’m an artist. If I can find a way to be involved in a rocket launch from NASA’s pad 39A, anyone can! I hope you find the newsletter to be an inspiring spark to fuse your own Path to Mars.

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Click Me for Spacey Inspiration!

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• NRO Satellite Launches On Board Delta-IV Heavy (spacefellowship.com)

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (Photo credit: MrDoS)

After a week of transit, nervous and excited first contact, dinners, speeches, tours, drinks and mild goofiness (rinse, repeat in Florida), today marked our entry point into the chewy stuff – the beginning of the SSP core lectures.

Some brought laptops. Some brought fresh notebooks and shiny pens. We all cracked them open and waited, expectant, wanting. How would our lives be changed by what was to emerge? More amazingly, how could these lectures possibly fulfill the needs of engineers, lawyers, geologists and artists (ok, artist – just me) all at the same time? How could we, the representatives of 31 countries, find common ground? How could we, the class of SSP 2012, not only break the language barrier, but work together to build a spaceship of dreams from the shards?

It’s a tall order for any teacher.

Luckily for us, Jim Dator, first up to bat, was no shrinking violet. He wove a tapestry of space history that highlighted the space dreams of artists, the cool brilliance of rocket engineers, the hot and cold wars of humanity, and the pragmatism of bristle-tongued politicians. For the first time I saw the rich threads come together in a vastly complex, sometimes disturbing, but completely elegant design that included us all. When he said “dreams and stories proceed and produce reality” and nobody disagreed, I let out a breath that I didn’t realize I had been holding. Without imagination, there can be no new reality. Beautiful validation. Math skills? Not my strong suit. Imagination? Check. I’ve got it in spades.

The best part? Looking around, I saw myself surrounded by a room full of whip-smart engineers with the ability to turn those dreams into reality. I can create dreams and they can turn them into reality. Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. These engineers are my new best friends. And sprinkled throughout the rocket scientists? Why, those just happen to be the silver-tongued future policy makers and business leaders who I just know will spin the heads and crack open the wallets of the biggest space naysayers to date.

In the afternoon, as we bravely stood up one-by-one to debate the human presence in space, I saw each of us again in all our motley spirit. We were at turns brash, nervous, witty, confident, shy, passionate, clever, determined, bizarre, succinct, and even a little irrational. Our eyes were shining and cheeks flushed. We stumbled over our words but soldiered on, determined to be the best of ourselves. Seeing us like that, I fell in love with humanity all over again.

I can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

I promise to take them with me in my heart and mind when I head into any discussion on Space and Society that is carved out in the 9-week schedule. Because it takes a society to get to space, and these strange and complicated journeys into the sky change us all. That includes the people you don’t see. It includes artists, athletes, managers, and lovers. It includes me. And it includes you.

It also includes the following people, whom I would like to thank for their financial support. Most of them, by the way, are not scientists. But they are kind, and broad-minded.

This is how we get to space.

Thank you:

Anonymous (yes, there is some privacy left, if you ask for it)

Kristen Stieffel

Anne Goodwin

Sean Stewart Birdsell

Christian Luethen

Aki Ino

Kendrick Mauser

Tammy Dollimount

Morten A. Salvesen

Dana Dillon

Sarah Watton

Marilyn Smith & Joe Cutler

Wendy Vey

Leslie MacLeod

Daniel Payne

Sarah Polkinghorne

Alicia & Andrew Vocke

Kayla Young

Deidre Gillard-Rowlings

Linda Humphries

Cliff Makinson

Renee & Richard Holloway

James Diggs

Randell Dodge

Sam Watkins

Kellie Cullihall

Carol Nelson

Heather Goodwin

Renee Pilgrim

Chris Vatcher

Sandy Gow & Rory Lambert

Cliff Makinson

Jen & Bob Parsons

Narda McCarroll

The Twilingate Observatory

Susan Jennings

Peter & Kay Mehren

George & Daphne Cutler

Janet Moulton

I’ll see you at Space Camp.

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One terrific example is the Second Annual Humans in Space Youth Art Competition. This contest is for youth aged 10-18 (born on or after September 1, 1993), and is open to residents of any country. The contest asks young people to “Be Inspired, Creative and Heard”, to think creatively about the future of Humans in Space, and to express it in one of four formats: through visual, literary, musical or video form.

I love that this competition is open to such a wide range of media expression, and that it offers such a fantastic opportunity to the winners:

Competition winners will receive awards and have their art displayed and performed worldwide and viewed by scientists, astronauts, engineers, artists, and the public.  Major events include the 19th International Academy of Astronautics’ Humans in Space Symposium in Cologne, Germany, July 2013 and locations across the United States associated with NASA’s “50 Years of Solar System Exploration” Celebration from August 2013-August 2014. Artwork will also be continuously displayed in our online gallery.

Supported by DLR German Aerospace Centre, NASA, and USRA (Universities Space Research Association), this competition is no small event; it shows how the space industry is taking art more seriously, and will be relying on artists more and more to enhance the public’s general awareness and support for human space flight.

Entries must be submitted by midnight U.S. Central Standard Time, October 21, 2012. For more details see the competition website www.humansinspaceart.org

If you are over 23 and feel sad about not being eligible to enter this one, cheer up! You can still use those art school skills and apply to be a judge.

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Miniature Rose Astroculture by NASA

Have you ever wondered what things smell like in space? George Aldrich has. His job as NASA’s chemical specialist is to smell everything that goes into space. Call him a Nasalnaut, Nostril-Damus or Chief Sniffer, but the job remains the same – ensuring the olfactory comfort and safety of each and every astronaut. His is an amusing yet integral position in the space industry.

If you are more of a spa artisan than chemist, you may be interested in engaging your nose in slightly less offensive space scents. In 1998, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) teamed up with Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WCSAR) to develop a plant growth chamber called ASTROCULTURE. A miniature rose was flown aboard a 10-day mission of the Shuttle Discovery (STS-95). Four samples were taken from the rose during this time; back on earth, these scent molecules were analyzed. The final resulting scent produced was incorporated into “Zen” by the Japanese company Shiseido (one of my favorites, I admit).

Shisedo Zen

It’s hard to believe fifteen years have passed since this sweet space experiment. While I haven’t come across many tales of flowers in space, there seems to be a recent cultivation of olfactory artists  bubbling up eau d’espace here on earth.

In 2009, an exhibition was held at the Reg Vardy Gallery in Sunderland, England entitled “If There Ever Was: An Exhibition of Extinct and Impossible Smells”. Notable among the many ephemeral creations were three space-related scents. “The Surface of the Sun” created by Geza Schoen, “The Smell of Mir” by Steve Pearce, and “The Smell of Meteorite” by Mark Buxton.

Scratch N' Sniff Space included. Image from amazon.com/uk

The exhibition was available for a limited time as a scratch and sniff book through amazon.com/uk; more detailed descriptions of the “impossible smells” can be read as a pdf here.

Steve Pearce, CEO and Founder of Omega Ingredients, must have found his calling in creating the smell of Mir, because he went on to create “Moondust fragrance” for the 2010 exhibition “Moon, Scratch and Sniff”, a commission for the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.

Moon, Scratch and Sniff

This took part in the Republic of the Moon exhibition held in London, UK from Dec 2011 -Feb 2012. Audiences participated in the scent-immersion by entering a chamber, where a lone astronaut tended rock garden, spraying it with the gunpowder-like scent. Now that’s good 4-D space theatre. 3-D is so 2010.

If your preferred scent is something less literally connected with space, and more along the lines of space-inspired designer fragrances, you’re in luck. There are hundreds of perfumes out there that promise to leave you sun-kissed or moon-bathed. Among some of the more popular couture perfumes are Magical Moon by Hanae Mori, Sun Moon Stars by Karl Lagerfeld, or the wildly inventive “Millinery” by the collaborative team of Stephen Jones and Comme des Garcons. While not immediately apparent as a space scent, it has been described as having the air of a “violet hit by a meteorite”. Wow.

But would it smell as sweet?

I don’t know about you, but I’d love a whiff of the Rose Nebula. How about getting out those essential oils and whipping up a bottle or two?

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