Remembering the Space Age. - Black Vault Radio Network (BVRN)

338 reMeMberING the SpaCe aGe
foreshadowed space fight limited to only the low earth orbiting ventures of
Skylab, the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station.
Now at the outset of the next 50 years of space exploration, I contemplate
the extraordinary imagery beaming down from the hubble Space telescope:
distant nebulas and galaxies (and the confrmation of the existence of an
organic compound in the atmosphere of a planet in a near-by star system),
Cassini’s exploration of Saturn’s moons titan and enceladus for water, the Mars
reconnaissance Orbiter’s discovery of water deposited clay in a dry lake bed,
and Messenger’s frst fyby of Mercury since Mariner 10.
as a result, I am drawn to the visual possibilities that will originate from
both robotic spacecraft and human spacefight. So it is reasonable for me to
postulate what still photographic images may be reasonable candidates for
“iconic” during the next 50 year cycle, among them:
• frst discernable image of a water planet—with evidence of oceans, clouds,
continents—in another solar system
• frst image of alien life forms either alive or in fossil form
• frst image capturing the earliest light of the universe just after the “Big
bang”
• Jupiter and some of its moons as seen from the surface of Europa
• frst panoramic image from the surface of Europa illuminated by the
refected light of Jupiter, not the Sun
• Saturn and its rings as (possibly) seen from the surface of Titan
• frst detailed image of the surface of Pluto in the foreground with Charon
and/or other plutonian moons in some crescent phase in the background
• defning color image of Earth and the Moon from the surface of Mars
• clear discernable image of Earth’s “pale-blue-dot” taken from the outer
fringes of our solar system
• frst sequential or montage image of a Kuiper Belt Object
• image of the frst group of civilian “tourists” to orbit Earth in a spaceship
ll type of spacecraft
• during SM4, the last human mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, a 180
degree montage of overlapping images of hSt, the orbiter, earth, and
space taken from various vantage points in the Space Shuttle’s cargo bay
and from its robotic arm
• frst detailed image of the Apollo 11 landing site by a robotic spacecraft
(ideally in low angled sunlight) showing the LeM lander, american fag,
aLSep, discarded artifacts (camera bodies, etc.), and boot prints