The celebrated British artist and humanitarian is set to beat Jeff Koons to the moon, in the highly anticipated, first ever artwork moon race.
Three… Two… One… and lift off, Sacha Jafri, one of the world’s most celebrated artists has officially launched his artwork ‘We Rise Together with the Light of the Moon’ to the moon aboard the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Rocket from Cape Canaveral at 02:18am EST on Monday, 8th January 2024.
With the successful launch of the Peregrine Mission One, exciting times are ahead with Sacha Jafri’s painting becoming the first official artwork to be launched from earth to the moon. This historic day marks NASA’s first moon mission in over 50 years with Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One, as part of the NASA Artemis program – “…a giant leap for humanity as we prepare to return to the lunar surface for the first time in over half a century….” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
Sacha Jafri now looks set to beat Jeff Koons to become the first artist to place the first official work of art on the lunar surface of our moon – in the first ever exciting artwork moon race. The Mission sits alongside the development of Humanity’s first space station within the Artemis program, supported by the recently signed partnership agreement with Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the UAE.
The piece of art will be placed on the Moon with the help of Selenian, a pioneering company that specialises in the curation of art in space, and Astrobotic, a commercial space company, in association with NASA under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative known as NASA CLPS. The landing site will then become a world heritage landmark preserved forever. Jafri has used a moon-resilient aerospace grade aluminum gold plate as his canvas in order for the Artwork to be fully resilient to the lunar conditions. This process took just over 2 years of testing in order for Spacebit to be able to confirm that it would last eternally on the Moon.
Jafri’s Artwork is due to land on the moon on Friday, 23d February 2024. Given the recent updates from Astrobotic, this is now likely to be a hard landing rather than a soft landing. However, the artwork will still land on the moon and will be able to withstand a hard landing due to the resilient make up of the artwork plate.
Sacha Jafri, Global Artist & Humanitarian comments, “The placement of my moon-landed artwork aims to be a symbol for a reconnected humanity. At night, as our Earth falls into darkness, our only natural light comes from the Moon, but now as it shines its light, it shines with the symbolic message of my moon-landed Artwork, and from the darkness comes the light. My hope is for humanity to reunite as we begin to vibrate at a higher frequency, embrace humility, understand the power of universal consciousness, and realize the fragility of our planet.”
Dan Hendrickson, Vice President of Business Development, Astrobotic comments, “Astrobotic is thrilled to be delivering Sacha Jafri’s historic Artwork to the Moon. We believe space is for everyone, and Sacha’s artwork is the perfect embodiment of that spirit. When the artwork touches down on the surface of the Moon, it will be a powerful reminder of how the arts inspire creative thinking and make our world a better place.”
James Khazaei, Co-Founder, Selenian comments, “Just as Armstrong left the first footprint on the surface of the moon, Selenian is now set to leave the legacy of the moon’s first official artwork by Sacha Jafri on the lunar surface. Our ultimate goal is to be the gateway portal to Space and the Moon for physical and digital art assets.”
Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator comments, “…We have so much science to learn through CLPS missions that will help us better understand the evolution of our solar system and shape the future of human exploration for the Artemis Generation…”
The Artwork – “We Rise Together with the Light of the Moon”, Jafri’s unique piece, lasered on to a Moon-Resilient plate, set within his iconic heart-motif, depicts a reconnected humanity, with two central figures holding hands, entwined with Love & Empathy, as they rotate within a flourishing new world. Our World as it could be.
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