Michael Najjar

14 December, 2018

VSS Unity - Welcome to Space !

Michael Najjar has been a member of the Virgin Galactic Pioneer Astronaut team since 2012. After many years of development and testing, setbacks and progress, on the 13th December 2018 Spaceship VSS Unity at long last reached the border of space during a historic test flight. After many years of accompanying and supporting this project and undergoing numerous space training sessions in Germany, the US and Russia, Michael´s goal of becoming the first artist in space now is finally within reach.

This is the first time since the US retired the Space Shuttle in 2011 that humans have taken off from American soil and gone into space. Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic rocketed two test pilots beyond Earth's boundaries and brought them back safely. The two pilots Mark “Forger” Stucky and Frederick “CJ” Sturckow started their journey at the Mojave Air and Space Port in the Californian desert, slung under the belly of Virgin's twin-hulled, carbon fiber launch vehicle, the VMS Eve. Once they were 13,000 m / 43,000 feet up, Eve released Unity, and the Unity pilots powered its rockets for 60 seconds—longer than ever before—to shoot upwards at Mach 2.9, nearly three times the speed of sound. VSS Unity climbed to an altitude of 82 km / 51.4 miles, that's high enough to see the star-spotted blackness of space, and get a pretty spectacular view of the Earth.
© Foto: Virgin Galactic

Michael met Richard Branson in 2012 when he visited Spaceport America and saw the Spaceship for the first time. He immediately signed up with Virgin Galactic and became one of their Pioneer astronauts. This was also the beginning of his acclaimed "outer space" series. © Foto: Michael Najjar

VSS Unity - Welcome to Space !

Michael Najjar nominated for Prix Pictet

Greenland Expedition documentary

Art Basel Miami Beach

new artwork "arctic streams"

Exhibition views Fotografiska Stockholm

Solo presentation at Paris Photo

Exhibition at Fotografiska Stockholm

Residency at Shanghai Museum of Glass

Lecture Astronomy Museum Shanghai

DEEP PURPLE - Scientific Expedition to Greenland

Exhibition at Kunsthalle Bahnitz

flashback: UKE Hamburg

new artwork "netropolis | shenzhen | 2024"

Interview with Space Ambition

new artwork "CDF-X"

Exhibition JUT Art Museum, Taipei

new artwork "fusion power"

ARCO Madrid

Exhibition "A Constant State of Transformation", Melbourne

Podcast "FotoPsychoLogisch"

Symposium "Enter the Future"

Exhibition at Caixa Forum, Madrid

Exhibition at ArtScience Museum, Singapore

"orbital ascent" special edition

Exhibition at BANK Gallery, Shanghai

Podcast "Fotografie neu denken"

Michael shoots at ITER Fusion Ractor in France

Nanjing Artfair, China

Wired UK magazine

Ars Electronica Festival - Who owns the truth?

Final test flight of Spaceship Unity

Civilization exhibition at Saatchi Gallery, London

Michael at the Starbase

new artwork "starbase II"

ART SG Singapore

"cool earth" exhibition at Studio la Città Gallery

Screening at COP27

Lecture at Deutsche Museum München

CIVILIZATION exhibition at Museo San Domenico

Frieze Seoul

Arctic expedition

Galería Juan Silió presents "cool earth" exhibition

New series "cool earth"

New Artwork "starbase"

mission:space re-edited version

new artwork "down to earth"

Michael visits STARBASE

New book "outer space v2"

Exhibition at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg

Historic Spaceflight of VSS Unity

"Overview Effect" exhibition at Museum for Contemporary Art, Belgrade

Solo Exhibition "outer space" in Beijing

National Air and Space Museum aquires 3 artworks for permanent collection

New publication "Space is the Place - Current Reflections on Art and Architecture"

"outer space | portfolio box 2020" is now available

"New Classics of Mountains and Seas" Exhibition at Zhejiang Museum, China

"FUTURO" exhibition at Galleri d'Italia, Vincenza

"Space Works" exhibition at Tampere Art Museum, Finland

"CIVILIZATION" at Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand

new artwork "crew dragon"

Large scale mural "lunar explorers"

skype interview with curator Benjamin Weil

new artwork "ascension"

"terraforming" video on view at Studio National des Arts Contemporains

VSS Unity spaceship transferred to Spaceport America

new artwork "space renaissance"

Video interview on "outer space"

"Beyond the Horizon" - exhibition at Wittenstein Innovation Factory

"outer space" exhibition opens in Shanghai

"terraforming" exhibition at Galería Juan Silio, Spain

New artwork "lunar explorers"

Photo shooting at CERN

new artwork "ignition"

"intergalactic" exhibition at BNKR in Munich

SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch

Shooting of Soyuz rocket launch in French Guiana

CIVILIZATION exhibition opened at the UCCA Beijing

Lecture at the European Space Research and Technology Center

A Bright Future - New Scientist magazine publicates the artwork "synlight"