WEEK 9 | SPACE + ART | 🪐🔭💫

Luke Skywalker gazing at the Binary Sunset in Star Wars

Space is an environment that has been utilized in various famous movies for it provides a variety of creative choices fueled by imagination. As Vesna introduced in this week’s lecture, popular film series like Star Wars (1977) have displayed possible innovations scientists and engineers can take on to create a reality (Vesna). 

The launch of the Apollo 11 mission

Sending a person to the moon was seen as something out of the question, especially during times in which the technology and mathematics used to accomplish this, were not as advanced. What was once deemed impossible, has become possible. On July 20, 1969, the first humans walked on the lunar surface. Just around a month before, President Kennedy had expressed the American effort to commit itself to achieve this goal (History). 

Space Elevator with magnetic linear motors 

Space fiction is crucial to the development of innovations for it offers visions of possible space discoveries. As Vesna mentioned, novels like Jule Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon (1865) described the weightless effects on the human body when gravity is absent before this discovery had been confirmed (Vesna). Notably, Arthur C. Clarke’s The Fountains of Paradise (1976), introduced the idea of an elevator in space which astoundingly is now a reality in progress. David Smith Herman from NASA’s Marshall Science Research and Projects Division has compiled plans for a space elevator that includes carbon nanotubes that would stretch from Earth into space with robot climbers hauling cargo and passengers into the Earth's orbit. NASA’s Millennium-Two Space Elevator would transport people into space in just five hours. Essentially it’s a long cable extending from Earth’s surface into space (NASA). Using motorized elevator pods and designated space stations, the ability to transport people, besides astronauts, is the goal (Snowden). 

These ideas are very intriguing because it makes me wonder about the possibility to turn something that was once an idea into actual reality. As a Star Wars fan, space innovations and discoveries reflecting film are amazing. For instance, I absolutely adore the scenery the Star Wars series offers!! It’s super beautiful, especially the binary sunset scene with Luke Skywalker admiring and gazing at the breathtaking sky.

The Kepler-16 Binary Star System

I’m super excited to share that there is actually a binary star system that creates a double sunset just like the one shown in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)!! The Kepler-16 binary star system was discovered using the Kepler telescope (Brennan). It's so amazing to see how art can reflect our world!

Citations

Anthony, Sebastian. “The Apollo 11 Moon Landing, 45 Years on: Looking Back at Mankind’s Giant Leap.” ExtremeTech, ExtremeTech, 21 July 2014, 9:32 am, www.extremetech.com/extreme/186600-apollo-11-moon-landing-45-years-looking-back-at-mankinds-giant-leap. 

Benguitar9000. “Star Wars IV: A New Hope - Binary Sunset (Force Theme).” YouTube, YouTube, 22 Mar. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gpXMGit4P8.    

Brennan, Pat. “Meet 8 'Star Wars' Planets in Our Own Galaxy.” NASA, NASA, 23 Sept. 2020, exoplanets.nasa.gov/news/239/meet-8-star-wars-planets-in-our-own-galaxy/. 

Dunbar, Brian. “NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers a World Orbiting Two Stars.” NASA, NASA, 4 May 2015, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/kepler-16b.html. 

History.com Editors. “1969 Moon Landing.” HISTORY, A&E Television Networks, 14 May 2021, www.history.com/topics/space-exploration/moon-landing-1969. 

NASA. “Audacious & Outrageous: Space Elevators.” NASA, NASA, 7 Sept. 2000, science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2000/ast07sep_1. 

NonPrime. “The Famous Binary Sunset.” Reddit r/Star Wars, Reddit, 2017, www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/5nmect/the_famous_binary_sunset_this_scene_gives_me/. 

Rawlings, Pat. “Advanced Space Transportation Program (ASTP).” NASA, NASA, 7 Sept. 2000, images.nasa.gov/details-0302060.html. 

Snowden, Scott. “A Colossal Elevator to Space Could Be Going up Sooner than You Ever Imagined.” NBC News, NBCUniversal News Group, 2 Oct. 2018, www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/colossal-elevator-space-could-be-going-sooner-you-ever-imagined-ncna915421.  

Vesna, Victoria. "Space+Art: Lecture I." Lecture. 29 July. 2013,  UCLA, Los Angeles, California. Class lecture.

Vesna, Victoria. "Space+Art: Lecture V." Lecture. 30 May. 2012,  UCLA, Los Angeles, California. Class lecture.