Week 9
From this week's material, my mind was blown thinking that science fiction has dictated some important discoveries in space exploration. For example, Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon
described weightlessness all the way back in the 19th century! Verne also accurately mirrored a lot of aspects of Apollo 1 in his novel, including that people would return to earth by parachuting into the sea. Similarly Konstantin Tsiolkovsky wrote of a true space station that models space stations we have today. In science fiction, I often think inventions coming out of the work as novel, such as recreations of the DeLorean car from Back to the Future. However, this material has proved that art can actually fuel science as well!
Another example of art as a catalyst for space exploration comes from Chelsey Bonestell, an artist who was known as the "father of space art." His paintings so realistically depicted space; some say that his paintings "not only anticipated 20th century space exploration, they helped to bring it about." (Miller) Looking through Bonestell's gallery myself, I was shocked at how incredibly realistic his work was for even this day in age. For works being created in the mid-nineteenth century, his vivid imagination and accuracy was unlike anyone of his time.
Victoria Vesna. "8 space pt1 1280x720" YouTube. 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1291&v=mMmq5B1LKDg.
“DeLorean DMC-12.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Apr. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeLorean_DMC-12.
Andrei, Mihai. “4 Things Jules Verne Got Right and 4 He Didn't.” ZME Science, ZME Science, 15 Dec. 2016, www.zmescience.com/other/science-abc/things-jules-verne-got-right-and-he-didnt-2008/.
Smith, Yvette. “December 2006: Constructing the Space Station.” NASA, NASA, 6 Feb. 2018, www.nasa.gov/image-feature/december-2006-constructing-the-space-station.
Shilling, Erik. “Meet the Father of Modern Space Art.” Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura, 21 Sept. 2016, www.atlasobscura.com/articles/meet-the-father-of-modern-space-art.
Shahrabani, Benjamin. “The Back To The Future DeLorean Now Lives At The Petersen Museum.” Petrolicious, 25 Apr. 2016, petrolicious.com/articles/the-back-to-the-future-delorean-now-lives-at-the-petersen-museum.
“Bonestell - Image Gallery.” Chesley Bonestell, www.bonestell.org/TemplateMain.aspx?contentId=3#prettyPhoto.
described weightlessness all the way back in the 19th century! Verne also accurately mirrored a lot of aspects of Apollo 1 in his novel, including that people would return to earth by parachuting into the sea. Similarly Konstantin Tsiolkovsky wrote of a true space station that models space stations we have today. In science fiction, I often think inventions coming out of the work as novel, such as recreations of the DeLorean car from Back to the Future. However, this material has proved that art can actually fuel science as well!
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| A space station being built in 2006. |
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| The DeLorean car from the movie Back to the Future |
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| Saturn as seen from Mimas, 1944 by Chelsey Bonestell |
Sources
Miller, Ron. “The Artist Who Helped Invent Space Travel.” Gizmodo, io9, 11 Mar. 2013, io9.gizmodo.com/the-artist-who-helped-invent-space-travel-452436111.
Victoria Vesna. "8 space pt1 1280x720" YouTube. 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1291&v=mMmq5B1LKDg.
“DeLorean DMC-12.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Apr. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeLorean_DMC-12.
Andrei, Mihai. “4 Things Jules Verne Got Right and 4 He Didn't.” ZME Science, ZME Science, 15 Dec. 2016, www.zmescience.com/other/science-abc/things-jules-verne-got-right-and-he-didnt-2008/.
Smith, Yvette. “December 2006: Constructing the Space Station.” NASA, NASA, 6 Feb. 2018, www.nasa.gov/image-feature/december-2006-constructing-the-space-station.
Shilling, Erik. “Meet the Father of Modern Space Art.” Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura, 21 Sept. 2016, www.atlasobscura.com/articles/meet-the-father-of-modern-space-art.
Shahrabani, Benjamin. “The Back To The Future DeLorean Now Lives At The Petersen Museum.” Petrolicious, 25 Apr. 2016, petrolicious.com/articles/the-back-to-the-future-delorean-now-lives-at-the-petersen-museum.
“Bonestell - Image Gallery.” Chesley Bonestell, www.bonestell.org/TemplateMain.aspx?contentId=3#prettyPhoto.
I appreciated that you uses a lot of references to pop culture since it makes your post more relateable. I agree that Chelsey Bonestell was a visionary in her ability to envision such a future with the limited resources that she had during her particular time period. Thank you for sharing your insight.
ReplyDeleteYour post got me thinking about a sort of "chicken and egg" question around space and art. For example, did parachuting into the sea seem like a good idea on its own, and then someone realized Jules Vern predicted it, or did it sound like a good idea because Jules Vern predicted it? With so many speculations and art about the future being intertwined with further exploration of space, I imagine that we will see a great deal of the "chicken and egg" inventions in the future!
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