NASA Space Tourism Posters Tout Earth and Other Exotic Cosmic Locales

Summary: Nine NASA space tourism posters tout Earth and other exotic cosmic locales as Feb. 10 releases by NASA JPL's fictional Exoplanet Travel Bureau.

"Experience the Mighty Auroras of Jupiter" ~ NASA space tourism poster in visions of the future series, 2015 to 2016; credit NASA/JPL-Caltech: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL

On Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016, nine NASA space tourism posters tout exotic cosmic locales, including Earth, and join five posters released in 2015 by The Studio at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, and imaginatively attributed to JPL’s fictional Exoplanet Travel Bureau.

“Imagination is our window into the future. New travel posters from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, envision a day when the creativity of scientists and engineers will allow us to do things we can only dream of now,” states the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Feb. 10 news release.

The nine NASA space tourism posters released Feb. 10 celebrate moons and planetary bodies in the solar system, the area in space of celestial bodies gravitationally bound to the sun. The nine solar system destinations feature one dwarf planet (Ceres), three moons (Enceladus, Europa, Titan) and six planets (Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, Venus).

The Grand Tour poster recalls the once-every-175-years alignment of the four outer planets that allowed planetary gravity assists to ease Voyager 2’s visits to Jupiter’s system in 1979, Saturn’s system in 1981, Uranus’s system in 1986 and Neptune’s system in 1989.

Your Oasis in Space poster honors Earth as home, “where the air is free and breathing is easy.” The poster’s description notes that the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Earth science missions “monitor our home planet and how it’s changing so it can continue to provide a safe haven as we reach deeper into the cosmos.”

Visit the Historic Sites poster envisions NASA’s Mars Exploration Program as a golden age of achievements. The view from the future scans the past to recognize milestones as historic sites.

Jupiter’s poster hails the mighty auroras that “dazzle even the most jaded space traveler.”

Venus’s poster invokes the exotic allure of planetary transits of the sun for history’s cosmic-themed voyages, such as Captain James Cook’s journey in 1769 to the South Pacific for advantageous viewing of Mercury’s and Venus’s solar transits. The poster extols Venus as “Voted Best Place in the Solar System to watch the Mercury transit.”

The five NASA space tourism posters successfully released in 2015 spotlight celestial objects in spatial neighborhoods beyond the Solar System. The imaginary Exoplanet Travel Bureau’s series features four exoplanets (51 Pegasi b, HD 40307g, Kepler-16b, Kepler-186f) and one free-floating, or rogue, planet (PSO J318.5-22). Since its discovery in 1995 by two University of Geneva astrophysicists, exoplanet 51 Pegasi  b holds the honor of being the first exoplanet discovered in orbit around a sun-like star. As a free-floating exoplanet, PSO J318.5-22 does not orbit around a host star. PSO J318.5-22 was discovered by the Pan-STARRS 1 (Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System) telescope in Haleakala, Maui, in 2013.

The Studio, a design and strategy team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, creates the NASA space tourism posters. The Studio is responsible for visualization of complex science and technology topics. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA rely on The Studio’s creativity for space mission designs and for publicizing NASA endeavors.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory makes the posters available for free downloading and printing at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/visions-of-the-future.

“You can take a virtual trip to 14 alien worlds, and maybe even plaster your living room with planetary art, via the new, futuristic space tourism posters,” states the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s news release.

14 NASA space tourism posters released by NASA's Caltech-managed Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 2015 to 2016; credit NASA/JPL-Caltech: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

"Experience the Mighty Auroras of Jupiter" ~ NASA space tourism poster in visions of the future series, 2015 to 2016; credit NASA/JPL-Caltech: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL @ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/visions-of-the-future#grid-127451-6; (curated gallery/posters Visions of the Future) @ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/visions-of-the-future/

14 NASA space tourism posters released by NASA's Caltech-managed Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 2015 to 2016; credit NASA/JPL-Caltech: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL @ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=5052

For further information:

Dickson, Kieran. "Print Out This NASA Exoplanet Travel Poster and Transport Yourself  to a Whole New World." Outer Places > Science > NASA. Aug. 6, 2015.
Available @ http://www.outerplaces.com/science/item/9519-print-out-this-nasa-exoplanet-travel-poster-and-transport-yourself-to-a-whole-new-world

"Exotic Cosmic Locales Available as Space Tourism Posters." NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Feb. 10, 2016.
Available @ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=5052

"Gallery: Posters to inspire the next generation of space explorers." MPR News. Feb. 11, 2016.
Available @ http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/02/10/jpl-posters-atomic-age-space-exploration

Marriner, Derdriu. "HD 40307 g: One of Three Habitable Planet Image Releases by NASA in 2014." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/02/hd-40307-g-one-of-three-habitable.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Kepler-16b: One of Three Habitable Planet Image Releases by NASA in 2014." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/02/kepler-16b-one-of-three-habitable.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Kepler-186f: NASA Poster Images of Planets Outside the Solar System in 2014." Earth and Space News. Friday, Feb. 13, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/02/kepler-186f-nasa-poster-images-of_13.html

"Visions of the Future." NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Available @ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/visions-of-the-future/