new artwork "down to earth"
The art work “down to earth” shows a Falcon 9 mainstage rocket returning to Earth after a successful Starlink mission in November 2021 and landing in the Atlantic Ocean on the drone ship Just Read the Instructions. The curved trail of light in the sky is a long-time exposure of the rocket launch from Cape Canaveral. About nine minutes after the launch the first stage of the rocket returned to Earth and landed on the floating platform. The work combines two different time planes and movements in space: the launch movement of the rocket from the spaceport into orbit, and its return and landing. The surface of the rocket stage is partly covered in black soot which forms from the enormous amount of heat generated when the rocket re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere. A starry sky can be seen at the top of the picture and the viewer’s gaze is drawn over the water to the drone ship and over the rocket stage out into space. The reusability of rockets not only allows for broader access into space but also introduces the principle of sustainability and the efficient use of resources into the space travel industry. The booster that features in “down to earth” had already flown eight times before it first flew in May 2020 and brought the NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station on the SpaceX Demonstration Mission-2. In the work “crew dragon” (2020) the same booster can be seen on its historic first flight.