Monday, June 1, 2020

SpaceX Starship on Mars by Dale Rutherford

SpaceX's Starship on Mars by Scottish photographer & designer Dale Rutherford. More of his art here.

SpaceX Starship on Mars by Dale Rutherford
Starship approaching Mars:
SpaceX Starship approaching Mars by Dale Rutherford

Monday, May 25, 2020

SpaceX Red Dragon entering Mars' atmosphere by Chris Monson

Vision of SpaceX's Dragon 2 capsule entering Mars' atmosphere (if Red Dragon missions launched by Falcon Heavy hadn't been cancelled and replaced by much more powerful Starship mission architecture) by computer designer Chris Monson. More of his art here.

SpaceX Red Dragon entering Mars' atmosphere by Chris Monson

Saturday, May 16, 2020

SpaceX 18m Starship vs 12m Starship (ITS) vs 9m Starship

Three sizes of SpaceX's Starship side by side by Scottish photographer & designer Dale Rutherford:
  • 18m diameter Starship hinted by Elon Musk as the possible next generation Starship (in artist's vision it's not supposed to land on planets so no fins and legs);
  • 12m diameter Starship version (ITS) presented in 2016;
  • 9m diameter current Starship design.

SpaceX 18m Starship vs 12m Starship (ITS) vs 9m Starship by Dale Rutherford

SpaceX 18m Starship vs 12m Starship (ITS) vs 9m Starship (top view) by Dale Rutherford

Friday, May 15, 2020

Elon Musk with his youngest son X Æ A-12 at Mars Base Alpha

“Dad, what was it like to be confined indoors?”
“It doesn't matter son, now we have the whole universe to ourselves”

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk with his youngest son X Æ A-12 at Mars Base Alpha by Indian space artist Eashan Misra in collaboration with Eli Burton, known as Real Life Starman. Note the Tesla Supercharger station on the left side.

Elon Musk with his youngest son X Æ A-12 at Mars Base Alpha by Eashan Misra

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Boarding SpaceX Starship by Roger Bootsma

Video animation of a boarding walkway to SpaceX's Starship by Austrian 3D environment artist Roger Bootsma. More of his art here.

Saturday, May 2, 2020

Martian colonies in Babylon 5 TV series

Babylon 5 (1994-1998) was a popular sci-fi TV show in mid-1990s. Mars is one of the secondary locations in the show coming into spotlight in the second half of season 4. In the universe of Babylon 5 the rapid colonization and terraformation of Mars starts in mid-22nd century with only limited scientific missions before that. As in almost all fiction about colonization of Mars, eventually there rises a rebellion against Earth's control with an aim for Martian independence. There are around 2 million inhabitants on Mars at the time of events depicted in the show. You can read about Mars in the universe of Babylon 5 here.

Babylon 5 was one of the first TV shows / movies heavily utilizing CGI to depict the exteriors of a human colony on Mars. At the time most filmmakers used miniature sets for that purpose, as in the famous Total Recall (1990). Here is an ultimate collection of CGI scenes set on Mars in Babylon 5; you won't find more comprehensive such collection anywhere in the internet. Take into account the CGI scenes were done in mid-1990s with very limited graphics processing power so the resolution is low.

Mars in Babylon 5 - Mars Dome One in Syria Planum

Mars in Babylon 5 - Mars Dome One interior

Mars in Babylon 5 - Martian colony in Syria Planum

Thursday, April 30, 2020

NASA selects SpaceX's lunar optimized Starship for Artemis program

Today NASA announced that three US companies - SpaceX, Blue Origin & Dynetics - will develop the human landers that will land astronauts on the Moon beginning in 2024 as part of the Artemis program. And SpaceX shared some renders of the "lunar optimized Starship" which is developed "to transport crew between lunar orbit and the surface of the Moon". SpaceX added that "a lunar optimized Starship can fly many times between the surface of the Moon and lunar orbit without flaps or heat shielding required for Earth return. With large habitable and storage volume, Starship is capable of delivering significant amounts of cargo for research and to support robust operations on the lunar surface to enable a sustainable Moon base."

SpaceX lunar optimized Starship selected by NASA for Artemis program

SpaceX lunar optimized Starship landing on the Moon

Monday, April 27, 2020

Starman brings life to Mars

Starman brings life to Mars - inspiring cosplay photo of SpaceX's Starman holding a seedling in pressurized glass cloche at a location similar to Martian terrain by Eli Burton, known as Real Life Starman.

SpaceX Starman brings life to Mars by RealLifeStarman