Apollo 9 Art by Russell Arasmith

Beautiful space drawings by Russell Arasmith. These were used by NASA to illustrate the Apollo 9 Mission. The NASA description is given for each illustration below.

Russell Arasmith is an American illustrator. After graduating high school in 1945, he enlisted in the Army Air Force where he served as a radar operator. Upon leaving the service in 1946, he attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago for a year, leaving to work on The St. Joseph News Press two years later. In 1949, he took a job with the Kansas City Star in Kansas City, where he worked for 11 years before being offered a job at the Los Angeles Times.

Artist says: "I worked with The Times 32 years. I was Editorial Art Director for 17 years there. I did all the space drawings for the Times. Those drawings are the result of extensive briefings I attended at various space centers. All were done before the fact "on deadline" [on the same schedule with] the individual missions involved. The articles and my drawing were run in the Los Angeles Times on the day the actual event occurred. The Times Syndicate distributed the art work to 300 newspapers all over the world."

Russell Arasmith retired from the Los Angeles Times in 1992 and currently resides in Orange County, California.

Note: All artwork and images copyright © Russell Arasmith. Please do not use images without the permission.

Command module and attached service module separates from third stage and four petal-like panels making up lunar module adapter section are ejected to export the lunar module. Command/service modules separate to distance of about 50 feet then turn around and return to dock nose first with lunar module.

Legs of lunar module are extended and service rocket is burned for first time on mission. This drawing illustrates first service rocket burn on first day or any one of three service rocket burns on second day of the mission. Lunar module is still unoccupied at the time. The three crewmen remain in the command module.

After two crewmen check out lunar lander, they power up vehicle for test of lunar module descent engine. This is throttle able rocket in lower stage of two stage moon landing vehicle that will be used on future landings missions to lower men to the moon’s surface.

Astronaut Schweickart shown on space walk (EVA) between vehicles on forth day to demonstrate the lunar module crewmen could return to command module be tether line in case docking tunnel is blocked for some reason. He will use handrail up face of lunar module and handgrips on command module. Plan is for him to step into open hatch of command module (lower torso) then return to lunar module.

On Fifth day, Lunar Module crew returns to lander (leaving Scott in command ship) and the two spacecraft are separated for manoeuvres. After tow vehicles are positioned as planned, the lunar module’s descent (lower) stage is jettisoned, leaving tow-man crew in upper or ascent stage. Drawing shows separation of two stages.

Here the ascent stage engine is fired to place upper stage of landing vehicle on proper orbit fro rendezvous with command ship. Two spacecraft must rendezvous, dock, so lunar module crewmen can return to command craft for re-entry. Lunar module is designed only for space/lunar operations and cannot re-enter earth’s atmosphere without burning up.

View through window of command module as lunar module manoeuvres through final sequence to complete docking operation. Lighted reticule on window will help Astronaut Scott check lineup of two vehicles by placing cross lines on target just to left of lunar module’s docking cone.

After docking, Lunar Module crew will return to command module and the lunar module ascent stage will be separated from the command module for a long duration burn that will place it (unmanned) in a high elliptical orbit. Then, for rest of mission, day 6 through day 10, the pace will be more leisurely, and Apollo’s service rocket will be burned several more times, including a de-orbit burn to initiate re-entry, as shown in drawing.

Interior view of McDivitt, left, at standing station in LM, watching Schweickart back slowly out of forward hatch to begin space walk of about two hours. Schweickart wears backpack life-support system. The cable restraints hold McDivitt in position.

Link: Apollo 9 Art by Russell Arasmith (Apollo Mission Control Photo Plus).

Gallery: Russell Arasmith Space Art Gallery (Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama).

NASA: Space Colonies & Starships

Technology and engineering discussion of possible space colonies designs. Space colonies, spaceships, design and technology for living in space, etc.

Sources:

NASA and SSI of O'Neill Bernal Sphere design

NASA Stanford Torus design

NASA and SSI of Island Three paired cylinder design

A few illustrations - not the NASA ones

Starships and Space Colonies

Below are a few examples. You can click on images for a much larger version.

Stanford Torus

The Stanford Torus was the principal design considered by the 1975 NASA Summer Study, which was conducted in conjunction with Stanford University (and published as Space Settlements: A Design Study, NASA Publication SP-413). It consists of a torus or donut-shaped ring that is one mile in diameter, rotates once per minute to provide Earth-normal gravity on the inside of the outer ring, and which can house 10,000 people.

Stanford Torus external view. The overhead mirror brings sunlight into the colony through a series of louvred mirrors on the inner ring. Painting by Don Davis courtesy of NASA.

Stanford Torus cutaway view. The rotation of the torus provides Earth-normal gravity on the inside. Painting by Rick Guidice courtesy of NASA.

Stanford Torus interior. It seems unlikely that early colonies will have a population density this low. Painting by Don Davis courtesy of NASA.

Stanford Torus agriculture, conducted on multiple tiers for efficient use of space. Agriculture in space can be very productive because of the controlled environment. Painting courtesy of NASA.

Stanford Torus construction. Depicted is the final stages of installation of the radiation shielding. Painting by Don Davis courtesy of NASA.

Source: Stanford Torus

Bernal Sphere

The Bernal Sphere design is very similar to that used in the science fiction series Babylon 5, although the original Bernal Sphere design is much smaller, only 1 mile in circumference, and can house 10,000 people.

Bernal Sphere external view. It was later learned that the mirrors won't work properly in this configuration and will need to be redesigned. Painting by Rick Guidice courtesy of NASA.

Bernal Sphere cutaway view. The sphere rotates twice per minute to provide Earth-normal gravity on the inside. Painting by Rick Guidice courtesy of NASA.

Bernal Sphere agricultural rings seen in cross-section. Farming occurs in the upper layers, and animal husbandry in the lower layers where gravity is a little stronger. Painting by Rick Guidice courtesy of NASA.

Bernal Sphere interior, complete with California-style wine and cheese party, and human powered flight in the lower-gravity area near the axis. Painting by Rick Guidice courtesy of NASA.

Bernal Sphere hub still in the construction phase, with shielding and mirrors being installed. Painting by Don Davis courtesy of NASA.

Bernal Sphere low-gravity recreation area at dusk, protected by netting. Gravity becomes lower as you approach the center, and at the very top are the zero-gravity honeymoon suites. Painting by Don Davis courtesy of L5 News and National Space Society.

Source: Bernal Sphere

O'Neill Cylinder

The O'Neill Cylinder, designed by Princeton physicist Gerard K. O'Neill, is considerably larger than the other two designs, and is referred to as an "Island 3" or 3rd-generation space colony. The configuration consists of a pair of cylinders, each 20 miles long and 4 miles in diameter. Each cylinder has three land areas alternating with three windows, and three mirrors that open and close to form a day-night cycle inside. The total land area inside a pair of cylinders is about 500 square miles and can house several million people. The cylinders are always in pairs which rotate in opposite directions, cancelling out any gyroscopic effect that would otherwise make it difficult to keep them aimed toward the sun.

O'Neill Cylinder exterior. The modules on the large ring structure around the endcap are used for agriculture. Each module could have differing environments ideal for a particular set of food items. Painting by Rick Guidice courtesy of NASA.

O'Neill Cylinder interior provides a 20-mile vista. Children born here would think it totally normal to have "upside down" land areas overhead. Painting by Rick Guidice courtesy of NASA.

A dramatic side view of an O'Neill Cylinder showing a cloud level forming at an altitude of 3000 feet. Painting copyright by Don Davis courtesy of the artist.

O'Neill Cylinder endcap. The artist's inspiration came after O'Neill suggested to him that the view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge from Sausalito would provide an excellent scale reference for a later model cylindrical colony. Painting by Don Davis courtesy of NASA.

O'Neill Cylinder vista with ruddy hues caused by a fairly rare solar eclipse. The cylinders are large enough to have weather, which could even be made to change with the seasons, perhaps depending on a colonist vote. Painting by Don Davis courtesy of NASA.

Source: O'Neill Cylinder

The Space Settlement Art Gallery

Space Settlement is the concept for colonization beyond the Earth. While most thinking regarding the expansion of the human race outward into space has focused on the colonization of the surfaces of other planets, the space settlement concept suggests that planetary surfaces may not be the best location for extraterrestrial colonies. Artificial, closed-ecology habitats in free orbit would seem to have many advantages over any planetary home.

The Space Colony Art Gallery

Mike Combs' Space Settlement Page

NASA: Space Colony Design from the 1970s

In the 1970's Princeton physicist Gerard O'Neill with the help of NASA Ames Research Center and Stanford University showed that we can build giant orbiting spaceships and live in them. A couple of space colony summer studies were conducted at NASA Ames in the 1970s. Colonies housing about 10,000 people were designed. A number of artistic renderings of the concepts were made. These have been converted to jpegs and are available as thumbnails, quarter page, full screen and publication quality images.

Great cylindrical utopias. At some times these might have seemed remotely feasible...

Link: Space Colony Art from the 1970s

Gerard K. O'Neill: Space Colonies: The High Frontier

Wikipedia: Gerard K. O'Neill

Terry L. Sunday Digital Space Art

Artist says: "Space art," sometimes called "Astronomical Art," has a long and respectable history. Artists have been creating imaginative works showing conceptual and fanciful spacecraft, strange new worlds and awesome galactic vistas since long before the first primitive artificial satellites were boosted into earth orbit. Until the advent of the computer, space artists relied on traditional media, such as oil paints on canvas or acrylics on illustration board, to show us their visions. Today’s powerful desktop computers provide an optional medium. The images on this Digital Space Art website show some of the capabilities of affordable three-dimensional (3D) modeling and rendering software as used to create photo-realistic images of space subjects. The hardware models in these images — spacecraft, booster rockets, interplanetary probes, and so on — are realistic extrapolations of designs not so very different from vehicles that actually flew. You won’t find any physically unlikely "fantasy" spacecraft here. Most of these images feature the hardware in a prominent role-they’re not just extraterrestrial scenery.

Here just a few of the works that available for viewing on his website.

Note: All artwork and images copyright © Terry L. Sunday. Please do not use images without the permission of the artist.

Link: Terry L. Sunday Digital Space Art

Mechanix Illustrated: How Man will Explore the Moon

Mechanix Illustrated. June, 1959.

Earthmen who land on the moon will need a special lunar vehicle for exploration. The vehicle must be self-sustaining and capable of traversing both the smooth, dust-paved crater beds and climbing the steep rocky passes of their mountainous rims...

An original MI design by Frank Tinsley.

Link: How We Will Explore The Moon

Mechanix Illustrated: Moon Farms to Banish Starvation

Mechanix Illustrated. May, 1954.

Fifty years from now much of the world’s food may be grown high in the sky! Tomorrow’s farmers may raise their crops on artificial “moons” that have been launched into space and move in orbits around the earth. And the successful agriculturalist will probably be a combination chemist, biologist and engineer.

By James Nevin Miller.

An original MI design by Frank Tinsley.

Link: Moon Farms to Banish Starvation

Lifeboat Foundation: Space Ark I

Here is the megaproject of Lifeboat Foundation in style of Noah-technology. Space Ark I is a self-sustaining space colony built to ensure humanity could survive disasters that make Earth uninhabitable. Noah is back! He knows how to keep us, and will tell us what to do... Give your money :)

Lifeboat Foundation: Presentation of Space Ark