Three, Two, One, Lift off
posted on 28th Mar 2019 by David Jordan
On Tuesday of this week, the United States vice president Mike Pence delivered a space policy speech that called for American men and women to return to the Moon by 2024. Despite the understandable doubt that has been cast on the viability of this plan, (because there isn’t a plan or a budget) it is a hopeful time in space travel.
Earlier this month the SpaceX Dragon capsule completed a successful six-day mission in orbit. Over the course of six days SpaceX demonstrated the safe fueling of the Falcon 9 rocket, a successful launch, autonomous docking to the space station, undocking, a de-orbit burn, a controlled descent through Earth’s atmosphere, and finally the deployment of four main parachutes on the way to a soft touchdown.
The significance of the SpaceX Dragon trip to the International Space Station was that it was a test run for the first United States manned vehicle since the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011. Over the intervening years NASA has had to rely on Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The Dragon is also significant because it is a reusable vehicle developed by SpaceX, the private space transportation company founded by Elon Musk. A first crewed mission is planned for later this year.
Apart from reading lots of pulp science fiction as a kid, my enthusiasm for space travel was also inspired by posters on my bedroom wall. At the end of 2018 NASA official announced that the Voyager 2 spacecraft had crossed into interstellar space. To celebrate this achievement NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory made available a range of bold stylised posters and infographics for anyone to download, print, and share. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has a long track record of commissioning posters and other artwork and in 2016 worked with Seattle design firm Invisible Creature to create space themed travel posters. It’s great to see their investment in design which will hopefully continue to inspire future generations of space enthusiasts.
David Jordan – Digital Director
David set up the dedicated digital division of Neworld in 1999 and oversees the strategic approach, creative design and technical development of digital projects from websites to moving graphics and on-screen presentations.