…and both are named Voyager. Inspired by the recent announcement that Voyager 1 is rapidly approaching starship status. (Click for larger versions that you can slather all over your desktop.)
After I did that one, I thought I’d have a bit of a giggle with it. … Read more
A few days ago, I was raving about the short film Stardust, inspired by (and, in a CGI sort of way, starring) the Voyager 1 space probe, and I have to fess up that I’m still pulling this up and watching it at a rate of about once a day. I’m just a wee bit of a Voyager fan myself, to the point of having a little plastic one sitting on the shelf, and Stardust pushes my buttons – in a good way – on many levels.
One of those levels is that rhapsodic, hypnotic piece of music playing in the background. I’m a sucker for anything with a prominent cello line (see also: early ELO), so this music stuck in my head. Thanks to persistent pestering by myself and others, Stardust sound designer/composer Guy Amitai has released the four-minute piece of music from the short on iTunes. Just as Stardust is dedicated to graphic designer and cancer victim Arjan Groot, the proceeds from the iTunes single go to cancer research.
A worthwhile purchase on so many levels. If you want to read up on the real history of the real Voyager 1 and 2 space probes, go here – I’ve included many important dates from the Voyager program in theLogBook’s new timeline menu, all meticulously researched via NASA’s wealth of archive material and several other sources.… Read more
Check this out. This is the sort of thing I wish I could say I had put together.
Stardust from PostPanic on Vimeo.
PostPanic director Mischa Rozema’s new short film, Stardust, is a story about Voyager 1 (the unmanned spacecraft launched in 1977 to explore the outer solar system). The probe is the furthest man-made object from the sun and witnesses unimaginable beauty and destruction. The film was triggered by the death of Dutch graphic designer Arjan Groot, who died aged 39 on 16th July 2011 from cancer.
Nicely done, gang. Just beautiful. Four minutes of pure poetry.
Very minor detail: in real life, the Voyager probes have their large dish antennae pointed back toward Earth, not pointing forward in the direction of travel. Don’t let that get in the way of enjoying the work and feeling put into this, though.… Read more
Launched on this date 50 years ago today: Mariner 2, the first man-made probe to successfully reach another planet (in this case, Venus, after a three-and-a-half-month cruise during which Mariner 2 kept trying to fall apart). … Read more
Let us know what you find on the other side, Neil.
“Go for descent” – click for full-sized version
Apologies to my readers who are expecting to, you know, actually find something to read here of late. I’ve been trying recently to recapture my sense of childhood wonder of learning about the universe around us through some artistic dabblings, and this was just the first thing that came to mind upon digesting the news of the death of Neil Armstrong. What sense of wonder was he feeling at this moment? … Read more
Today marks 35 years since Voyager 2 lifted off, embarking on the trip through the solar system on which it’s still undertaking.
Just for fun, because I’ve got a decent model of it and happen to love space imagery, I thought I’d recreate glimpses of Voyager 2 on the various stops along its journey, as seen through the eyes of some external observer nearby. You can click on them for a somewhat larger render.
Jupiter – 1979 … Read more
Tomorrow, 43 years will have passed since humans first walked on the moon. This December, 40 years will have passed since we last went there.
Too bad we don’t go for these little drives anymore. … Read more
This is the only way anyone’s going to be “flying” down the back roads of Crawford County tonight. Dang hot-rodders.
Hey buddy, can I borrow your tow cable?
(Digital photos + six more inches of snow I didn’t need + 3D Studio Max + PSP9 + boredom)… Read more
Wait, there’s something weak coming through!
It isn’t friendly, whatever it is.
(Digital photo + 3D Studio Max + boredom)… Read more
