A diverse collection of works of art, poetry, movies, and other creative works will be sent to the moon as part of the Lunar Codex, a remarkable effort started by semiretired physicist Samuel Peralta. This ambitious endeavor is in collaboration with NASA’s Artemis missions.
The project aims to showcase the creations of 30,000 talented individuals from 157 countries, preserved in four “time capsules”. Lunar Codex will be a remarkable achievement as it represents the first significant collection of contemporary arts on the moon in over half a century.
The Lunar Codex comprises capsules that store digital versions of the works on memory cards, utilizing NanoFiche, a nickel-based film technology that can retain vast amounts of analog information in a minuscule format.
The works cover a plethora of space-themed works, including pieces like Alex Colville’s New Moon, Sean William Randall’s The Dreaming Moon, and Doreen Foster’s Moon Dance. The collection highlights the contributions of female artists, featuring works such as Ukrainian printmaker Olesya Dzhurayeva’s linocuts and Ayana Ross’s award-winning painting New American Gothic.
The Lunar Codex is part of a broader effort to send permanent archives of human expression into space. Before the project, only a few pieces of art had made their way to the moon. The Moon Museum, featuring works by renowned artists like Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg, was sent in 1969, while in 1971, an aluminum sculpture by Belgian artist Paul van Hoeydonck was included as part of the Apollo 15 mission.
What is next? Arch Mission Foundation have future plans to send archives to Mars’ orbit and surface in the coming years.
Featured Image: A NanoFiche being used in the Lunar Codex project. The little squares are digitized versions of art. Source: BBC UK
