Project Gemini
In 2020, artists Penny Walker-Keefe and Tom Buckland started Project Gemini. A two-artist collaborative project where historical space imagery is recreated using nothing but studio junk and a NASA's own DIY spirit.
JFK WE CHOOSE TO GO TO THE MOON 1962
September 12, 1962, Houston Texas, President John F Kennedy spoke before a crowd of 40,000 people gathered at Rice university stadium. In his speech, Kennedy characterized space as a new frontier, invoking the pioneer spirit that dominated American folklore. He infused his address with a sense of urgency and emphasized the freedom enjoyed by Americans to choose their destiny rather than have it chosen for them. Although he called for competition with the Soviet Union, Kennedy also proposed making the moon landing a joint project. Sadly, JFK would not live to see America achieve the first lunar landing seven years later in July 1969.
A Trip to the Moon 1902
A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune)[a] is a 1902 short film directed by French director Georges Melies. Inspired by a wide variety of sources, including Jules Verne's 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon and its 1870 sequel Around the Moon, the film follows a group of astronomers who travel to the Moon in a cannon-propelled capsule, explore the Moon's surface, escape from an underground group of Selenites (lunar inhabitants), and return to Earth with a captive alien.
The film utilised spectacle, sensation and pioneering special effects wizardry to deliver a cosmic fantasy that became an international sensation. It was profoundly influential on later filmmakers, bringing creativity to the cinematic medium and offering fantasy for pure entertainment, a rare goal in film at the time. The film also spurred on the development of cinematic science fiction and fantasy by demonstrating that scientific themes worked on the screen and that reality could be transformed by the camera. The moon with a capsule stuck in its eye is one of the most recognizable images in film history and often used as the iconic symbol for early pioneering efforts in cinema.
VALENTINA TERESHKOVA FIRST WOMAN IN SPACE 1963
First woman in space, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova. In 1963 the Soviet Union sent 25 year old textile worker and parachutist Tereshkova into space aboard Vostok VI and returned her to earth after 3 days in orbit. After a successful mission that created good publicity for working class women in space, the short-lived womens' cosmonaut program was disbanded. It would be almost 20 years until women flew into space again and became regular members of space programs.
BUZZ ALDRIN FIRST SPACE SELFIE 1966
Beginning in 1961, Project Gemini was NASA's second human spaceflight program. Conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, the Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew and aimed to develop space travel techniques to support the Apollo mission to land astronauts on the Moon. Ten Gemini crews and sixteen individual astronauts flew low Earth orbit (LEO) missions during 1965 and 1966. In 1966 on the final Gemini mission, Gemini XII, Buzz Aldrin took the first space selfie on a Maurer 16mm film camera. Silhouetted with the earth rising behind him, Aldrin set the tone for selfie culture and gave the world a playful insight into the unique perspective of an astronaut. Aldrin's expertise in orbital docking physics earned him the nickname "Dr Rendezvous" and positioned him to become the second person to step forth on the moon.
ALEXI LEONOV FIRST SPACEWALK 1963
Alexei Leonov was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut, Air Force major general, writer, and artist. On 18 March 1965, he became the first person to conduct a spacewalk, exiting the capsule during the Voskhod 2 mission for 12 minutes and 9 seconds.
In 2020, artists Penny Walker-Keefe and Tom Buckland started Project Gemini. A two-artist collaborative project where historical space imagery is recreated using nothing but studio junk and a NASA's own DIY spirit.
JFK WE CHOOSE TO GO TO THE MOON 1962
September 12, 1962, Houston Texas, President John F Kennedy spoke before a crowd of 40,000 people gathered at Rice university stadium. In his speech, Kennedy characterized space as a new frontier, invoking the pioneer spirit that dominated American folklore. He infused his address with a sense of urgency and emphasized the freedom enjoyed by Americans to choose their destiny rather than have it chosen for them. Although he called for competition with the Soviet Union, Kennedy also proposed making the moon landing a joint project. Sadly, JFK would not live to see America achieve the first lunar landing seven years later in July 1969.
A Trip to the Moon 1902
A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune)[a] is a 1902 short film directed by French director Georges Melies. Inspired by a wide variety of sources, including Jules Verne's 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon and its 1870 sequel Around the Moon, the film follows a group of astronomers who travel to the Moon in a cannon-propelled capsule, explore the Moon's surface, escape from an underground group of Selenites (lunar inhabitants), and return to Earth with a captive alien.
The film utilised spectacle, sensation and pioneering special effects wizardry to deliver a cosmic fantasy that became an international sensation. It was profoundly influential on later filmmakers, bringing creativity to the cinematic medium and offering fantasy for pure entertainment, a rare goal in film at the time. The film also spurred on the development of cinematic science fiction and fantasy by demonstrating that scientific themes worked on the screen and that reality could be transformed by the camera. The moon with a capsule stuck in its eye is one of the most recognizable images in film history and often used as the iconic symbol for early pioneering efforts in cinema.
VALENTINA TERESHKOVA FIRST WOMAN IN SPACE 1963
First woman in space, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova. In 1963 the Soviet Union sent 25 year old textile worker and parachutist Tereshkova into space aboard Vostok VI and returned her to earth after 3 days in orbit. After a successful mission that created good publicity for working class women in space, the short-lived womens' cosmonaut program was disbanded. It would be almost 20 years until women flew into space again and became regular members of space programs.
BUZZ ALDRIN FIRST SPACE SELFIE 1966
Beginning in 1961, Project Gemini was NASA's second human spaceflight program. Conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, the Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew and aimed to develop space travel techniques to support the Apollo mission to land astronauts on the Moon. Ten Gemini crews and sixteen individual astronauts flew low Earth orbit (LEO) missions during 1965 and 1966. In 1966 on the final Gemini mission, Gemini XII, Buzz Aldrin took the first space selfie on a Maurer 16mm film camera. Silhouetted with the earth rising behind him, Aldrin set the tone for selfie culture and gave the world a playful insight into the unique perspective of an astronaut. Aldrin's expertise in orbital docking physics earned him the nickname "Dr Rendezvous" and positioned him to become the second person to step forth on the moon.
ALEXI LEONOV FIRST SPACEWALK 1963
Alexei Leonov was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut, Air Force major general, writer, and artist. On 18 March 1965, he became the first person to conduct a spacewalk, exiting the capsule during the Voskhod 2 mission for 12 minutes and 9 seconds.