Space Art

The very first piece of what could be called “Space Art” was made by cosmonaut Alexei Leonov in March of 1965, during a mission into Earth Orbit. One of the objectives of this mission was to for Leonov to complete the very first spacewalk, protected by his spacesuit outside his capsule. He was able to exit the capsule, easily enough, and conduct some simple maneuvers within his spacesuit, but due to the pressurization of his suit causing it to expand in the vacuum of space, he had significant difficulty getting back into his space capsule. After heavily exerting himself, and having to let out of some of his precious oxygen to depressurize his suit, Lenov made his way back to safety. Upon his return, he quickly grabbed his stash of personal belongings, within which was a set of colored-pencils. Leonov then proceeded to create the first pice of art ever fabricated and flown in space: a depiction of the sun peeking over the horizon in low Earth orbit.

The Spacesuit Art project is a program that allowed individuals (mainly children) to collaborate in creating eye-catch spacesuit designs. In 2021, the spacesuit Dreamerwas flown to the ISS, and is pictured here. Beyond, another spacesuit, was created during the COVID-19 pandemic, and featured artwork from children worldwide, emphasizing unity during a challenging time. It debuted at the UN Climate Change Conference.