Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Lift-off of the Starship SN8 by Tony Bela

New illustration depicting lift-off of SpaceX's Starship SN8 test vehicle from company's launch site in Boca Chica, Texas by Australian space illustrator Tony Bela. Yesterday Starship SN8 12.5km test flight was scrubbed but there is a new attempt scheduled today.

You can view Tony's infographic of the upcoming Starship SN8 flight here and his incredibly detailed posters of the flight here.

Lift-off of SpaceX's Starship SN8 by Tony Bela

Monday, December 7, 2020

Painting of SpaceX Starship SN8 on launch stand by Colin Doublier

Picture of the Day 7/12/2020 - Painting of SpaceX's Starship SN8 on launch stand at SpaceX's launch site in Boca Chica, Texas before its 12.5km test flight by French urban artist Colin Doublier. More of his art here. Starship SN8 is the first full scale flight-ready Starship prototype equipped with a nose cone, fins and three Raptor engines. Starship SN8 is accompanied by Starship's first sub-scale prototype - Starhopper - in this painting.

Painting of SpaceX's Starship SN8 on launch stand by Colin Doublier

Thursday, December 3, 2020

Will there be space travel in Cyberpunk 2077 game?

Cyberpunk Deep Space sourcebook cover - spaceship over Mars
Cyberpunk 2077 is an upcoming first-person open world role playing game set in a futuristic dystopian cyberpunk world. The game is developed by Polish game developer CD Projekt Red (known for The Witcher game series considered to be one of the best RPGs ever made) and (hopefully) will be released on December 10, 2020.

Although the story of Cyberpunk 2077 takes place in the dystopian Night City on Earth, in several trailers the developers have hinted there might be some space related activities in the game. The game is adapted from Cyberpunk franchise which was created in 1988 thus splitting there from the real world timeline. Despite several destructive conflicts, in the alternate universe of Cyberpunk the first Lunar colony is established in 1997, in 2011 there is first ESA/Soviet mission to Mars and by 2025 the entire inner Solar system is sprawling with manned spaceships and there are tens of thousands of people living on the Moon, orbital space stations and Mars. You can reed about space in Cyberpunk world (as of 2025) in its sourcebook Deep Space.

In 2018 there were rumors one of CD Projekt Red studios is working on a fragment of the game taking place on the Moon. Recently when we asked Maciej Rebisz who is working as senior concept artist at CD Projekt Red and posting his space art on regular basis, if the company is working on some space themed game, he replied quite curiously, mentioning the Cyberpunk 2077:
It intrigued us and we found out that indeed – recent trailers of the game provide some clues space travel could be in the game. CD Projekt Red is known for its attention to detail. It is unlikely the scrupulous developer would include depiction of space travel in numerous trailers without providing the possibility. The question remains whether it will be included in the base game or some future DLC. So, there are the clues:
There is Orbital Air Space Center near the Night City:
Orbital Air Space Center from Cyberpunk 2077 game

Saturday, November 28, 2020

Incredibly detailed posters of SpaceX Starship SN8 15km test flight by Tony Bela

Australian space illustrator Tony Bela has created a set of four incredibly detailed sequential posters of the upcoming 15km test flight of SpaceX's Starship SN8 test vehicle. You can view Tony's infographic of the upcoming Starship SN8 flight here.
Starship SN8 on the launch stand at Boca Chica, Texas
Poster of SpaceX's Starship SN8 on launch stand by Tony Bela
Starship SN8 launch
Poster of SpaceX's Starship SN8 launch by Tony Bela

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Human colony in a Martian crater by James Vaughan

Picture of the Day 26/11/2020 - Digital painting of human colony in a Martian crater by photographer and concept artist James Vaughan. Note the Lockheed Martin's Mars lander launching from the colony. More of Vaughan's aerospace and defense concept art here.

Human colony in a Martian crater by James Vaughan - closeup
Full painting with a man looking at the colony through a window:
Human colony in a Martian crater by James Vaughan

Sunday, November 15, 2020

Leaked official render of SpaceX Starship Super Heavy at launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas

Today YouTuber EpicDaniel posted a video which was allegedly uploaded on the official SpaceX YouTube channel on September, 28th 2019 and removed later. The video shows Starship development progress at the time and features a render of Starship Super Heavy at launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas. Here is a screen-stitch created by Austin Barnard from the video:

Leaked official render of SpaceX Starship Super Heavy at launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas
Note that the (possibly official) render is more than a year old now and thus outdated.
Here is full video reuploaded by EpicDaniel today:

Saturday, November 14, 2020

SpaceX Starship interior concept for 64 passengers

Swedish space designer Erik Corshammar (Erc X) and YouTuber smallstars have created their concept of SpaceX's Starship interior layout for 64 passengers.

SpaceX's Starship interior concept by Erik Corshammar (ErcX) & smallstars - docked to ISS

SpaceX's Starship interior concept by Erik Corshammar (ErcX) & smallstars

Deck 0 - cargo hold

Deck 1 - egress options & EVA spacesuits
Deck 2 & 3 - 32 crew bunks in each deck
SpaceX's Starship interior concept by Erik Corshammar (ErcX) & smallstars - crew bunks (deck 2 & 3)

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Mars base in a crater by Sam Taylor

Picture of the Day 12/11/2020 - Retro style illustration of a human base in a Martian crater by digital artist Sam Taylor for his poster "Mars - Adventure Awaits". More of his art here.

Mars base in a crater by Sam Taylor

Sunday, November 8, 2020

Lunar mining colony by Jort van Welbergen

Picture of the Day 8/11/2020 - Lunar mining colony with several landing pads for SpaceX's Starships (pictured here in their 2017 design, then called Big Falcon Ship) by Dutch freelance movie and game concept designer Jort van Welbergen. More of his art here.

Lunar mining colony by Jort van Welbergen
Closeup of one of the Starship landing pads with Earth on the horizon:
SpaceX's Starship landing pad at Lunar colony by Jort van Welbergen

Thursday, November 5, 2020

Sketch of SpaceX Starship SN8 15km flight by Colin Doublier

French urban artist Colin Doublier has created his sketch of SpaceX's Starship SN8 upcoming 15km test flight. More of his art here. The flight will (hopefully) happen in next week and Starship SN8 is the first full scale flight-ready Starship prototype equipped with a nose cone, fins and three Raptor engines.

Sketch of SpaceX's Starship SN8 15km flight by Colin Doublier