An Astronomical Disappointment

[beamjockey]

Recently, Patrick Nielsen Hayden linked to an essay about the artwork on the new U.S. passportsI learned that alongside images of flags, Liberty Bells, Mt. Rushmore Presidents, and so forth, the passport has a bit of astronomical art

Comments

[mmcirvin]

One of my daughter's books shows a crescent moon rising soon after sunset. This irks me.

Of course, the book is also about anthropomorphic animals' bedtime routine on what appears to be a derivative of Noah's Ark, but for some reason I don't mind that.

[davidgoldfarb]

It's the difference between an impossibility knowingly introduced for the sake of a story, and a blunder introduced through ignorance. One is fine, the other isn't -- and it's usually not hard to tell the difference.

[ffoeg]

You have that one, too? It amuses me to consider that it's the same meter as "To His Coy Mistress." "And down once more, but not so fast/they're on their way to bed at last!"

[ckd]

That NYT article needs proofreading, badly. "The pages, done in a pink-grey-blue palate"? Ewww. Ick. Meat passports!

I'm very happy that I renewed mine recently, meaning that I don't get "chipped" until 2014. (Unfortunately, the Irish passport expires next year, though the fact that that one is hand-written and therefore not even OCRable still makes me happy.)

[robin_june]

What does the passport picture have that the original doesn't?

Why, the U. S. of A., of course.

Those pesky clouds in their realism obscured the most important thing in the picture, so of course they had to go.

For NASA, the subtext is supposed to be science.

For the State Department, the subtext is the aggrandizement of the nation.

[von_krag]

the subtext is the aggrandizement of the nation.

TweeeeT! Ten yard penalty, Transnational Hubris. 2nd Down!

That's a serious amount of pejorative sentiment there. What's wrong with a arm of a government promoting itself and the ideals for which it stands? Yeah the US F**ksup a lot but Miss robin_june would you care to live anywhere else?

[sethb]

I can believe that the current government's "ideals for which it stands" include scientific inaccuracy. I don't approve.

[von_krag]

When you say "current government's" I wonder if you mean the Bush administration? Because as far as I know I'm a part of the government by being a US citizen.

Hey cool! We both agree on this, "I don't approve." I guess this means voting in every election and being informed on the issues plus letting your elected officials know what your concerns are. Standing by passively isn't good for anyone.

Pioneer F and G(Prelaunch designations)

[anonymous]

I worked on both of these when I was at TRW back in the late 60's. Fun work. I did the launch loads analysis. The 20 g solid rocket that gave the last kick towards the universe was the most severe loads environment. The Atlas launch and staging was fairly benign. Ah! Back in the day.

[anonymous]

"[Edited later to add: Heck, no-- central peak, irregular dark floor-- it's gotta be the mighty crater Tsiolkovsky. The artist knew his way around Farside, and I didn't.]"

..."Who is the artist who painted the NASA illustration? (Ron Miller? Don Davis? David Hardy?)"

It is almost certainly not the work of any of those great astronomical artists. If I were to hazard a guess (based on the style and technique, as difficult it is to judge from the small image) two of the top three candidate possibilities would actually be great WOMEN astronomical artists. No, I won't say who I think may be responsible for this work. But try posting an inquiry at the International Association of Astronomical Artists. I'm sure there will be folks there who can solve the mystery.

[beamjockey]

I asked a number of prominent IAAA members for whom I could find addresses, at the time I was writing this.

I didn't realize IAAA had a forum to which I can post. I can't find one on their Web page.

There is a box for sending messages to their headquarters. Perhaps I'll try that.

[anonymous]

I sent a reply, but it hasn't appeared (yet). I'm European VP of the IAAA. We do have a forum, but only recently, and only members can post to it, or to the IAAA listserver. However, we do have a prominent Facebook page, to which anyone can post if they join, and also LinkedIn, so it's not difficult to contact us!
I don't know who painted this -- and I wrote, edited and compiled 'Visions of Space', the biggest compilation of space art to date!