Johnson Space Center Dedicated Robert McCall Space Mural 39 Years Ago

Summary: The Johnson Space Center dedicated its Robert McCall space mural 39 years ago, on Thursday, June 14, 1979, at 11 a.m. Central Daylight Time.

detail of Robert McCall’s Johnson Space Center mural, Opening the Space Frontier -- the Next Giant Step, with astronaut John Young bearing the U.S. flag, deceased astronaut Judith Resnik holding her helmet; Astronaut Device painted by astronaut/artist Alan Bean (upper left): Public Domain, via NASA

Houston’s Johnson Space Center dedicated its Robert McCall space mural 39 years ago, at 11 a.m. Central Daylight Time, Thursday, June 14, 1979 (16:00 Coordinated Universal Time).

The 72-by-16 foot, acrylic on canvas mural spans the exterior wall of the Teague Auditorium in Building 2 South. Robert Theodore McCall (Dec. 23, 1919-Feb. 26, 2010) began painting the mural via a scaffold in January. The mural is entitled “Opening the Space Frontier -- The Next Giant Step.”

In an interview March 28, 2000, for the NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project, McCall described the mural’s theme as space exploration’s past, present and future.

“. . . I wanted to tell the story of our space program, our manned space program, pretty much from the beginning,” McCall explained. “So that imagery really carries us from the earliest launches, and they’re only small indications, but they’re in there, the story of our manned space program from the Mercury spacecraft to the Gemini and then Apollo and then finally Shuttle, and then looking into the future with some fantastic space stations orbiting that are really just dreams of a future that might be.”

Early in 1979, astronaut/artist Alan LaVern Bean joined McCall on the scaffold to make a contribution to the mural. He was selected Oct. 17, 1963, in NASA Group 3, known as The Fourteen.

In his NASA career of 17-plus years, Bean made two space flights. He was the fourth to walk on the moon.

He retired from NASA June 26, 1981 to begin a second career as a painter specializing in astronaut portraits and moonscapes. In a July 19, 2009, Washington Post interview, he dated his interest in painting back to a watercolor class he took while he was a test pilot.

Bean painted the U.S. military’s Astronaut Device, which comprises a gold shooting star encircled by an elliptical orbit. The Astronaut Device symbolizes space, the theater of operations for astronauts.

Bean’s Astronaut Device lies below the unfurled U.S. flag that is borne by astronaut John Watts Young (Sept. 24, 1930-Jan. 5, 2018). Young appears in the center of the mural, above the Teague Auditorium’s double doors.

NASA’s Jan. 6, 2018, tribute to John Young recognized him as the agency’s “most experienced astronaut.” He was selected Sept. 17, 1962, in NASA Group 2, known as The Next Nine.

Young’s legacy includes his unique status as “. . . the only person to go into space as part of the Gemini, Apollo and space shuttle programs and was the first to fly into space six times -- or seven times, when counting his liftoff from the Moon during Apollo 16.”

NASA’s longest-serving astronaut retired in 2004 after a career spanning 42 years. When asked to pinpoint his most memorable moment, Young said, “I liked them all.”

McCall depicted a female astronaut, holding her helmet and standing under or near the flag. She is set back and to the right of John Young.

McCall based the mural’s female astronaut on astronaut Judith Arlene Resnik (April 5, 1949-Jan. 28, 1986). Resnik was selected Jan. 16, 1978, in NASA Group 8. Known as TFNG (Thirty-Five New Guys), the group included NASA’s first six female astronauts.

Resnik was the second American female in space. She died on her second space mission, which was onboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.

In his NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project interview, McCall recalled getting to know Resnik while he was working on the mural. “I would usually get there about 7:30 or 8:00 and I would work. I would break and have breakfast. So she joined me a couple of time, and I got to know her. So I painted her in that mural,” he reminisced.

His original depiction identified Resnik by her name badge. An administrator in Building 1, Johnson Space Center’s Headquarters, however, requested that the name be removed because of complaints about singling her out of the first group of female NASA astronauts. McCall complied by making the name illegible and slightly changing the female astronaut’s features.

“In retrospect, it’s too bad that it still doesn’t have her name on it, because, of course, she died, so she’s significant for that reason,” McCall added.

The takeaways for the Johnson Space Center’s dedication of Robert McCall’s space mural, “Opening the Space Frontier -- The Next Giant Step,” 39 years ago are that the 72-by-16 foot mural includes a painted contribution by astronaut/artist Alan Bean and a retrospective memorial to astronaut Judith Resnik, who perished in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster six years and seven and one-half months after the mural’s dedication.

detail of lower right section of Robert McCall’s Johnson Space Center mural, Opening the Space Frontier: Humanoid History @HumanoidHistory, via Twitter July 23, 2015

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

detail of Robert McCall’s Johnson Space Center mural, Opening the Space Frontier -- the Next Giant Step,” with astronaut John Young bearing the U.S. flag, deceased astronaut Judith Resnik holding her helmet; Astronaut Device painted by astronaut/artist Alan Bean (upper left): Public Domain, via NASA @ https://www.nasa.gov/topics/people/features/mccall06.html<

detail of lower right section of Robert McCall’s Opening the Space Frontier mural, Johnson Space Center Building 2 South, Houston, Texas: Humanoid History @HumanoidHistory, via Twitter July 23, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/HumanoidHistory/status/624440829373878272

For further information:

“Alan Bean (Captain, USN, Ret.) NASA Astronaut (Former).” NASA Johnson Space Center > Biographical Data.
Available @ https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/bean-al.html

Dunbar, Brian, ed. “NASA Mourns the Passing of Astronaut John Young.” NASA > Astronaut Profiles. Jan. 6, 2018. Last updated Jan. 9, 2018.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/astronautprofiles/young

Ebeling, Kay. “McCall’s Space Mural To Be Dedicated June 14.” NASA News, Release No. 79-41. June 6, 1979.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83131main_1979.pdf

Humanoid History ‏@HumanoidHistory. “A 1979 mural by Robert McCall, on display at @NASA_Johnson, depicts a busy future for humans in #space.” Twitter. July 23, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/HumanoidHistory/status/624440829373878272

Humanoid History ‏@HumanoidHistory. “An epic detail from Robert McCall’s 1979 mural at NASA’s Johnson #Space Center.” Twitter. June 27, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/HumanoidHistory/status/879612747742425088

Martin, Douglas. "Robert T. McCall, Space Artist, Dies at 90." The New York Times > Arts. March 5, 2010.
Available @ https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/05/arts/05mccall.html

McCall, Robert; Isaac Asimov; Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. Our World in Space. Greenwich CT: New York Graphic Society, 1974.

McCann, Ruth. “Conversations: Astronaut-Turned-Moon Artist Alan Bean.” The Washington Post > Arts & Living. July 19, 2009.
Available @ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/16/AR2009071604590.html

Miller, Ron. The Art of Space: The History of Space Art, From the Earliest Visions to the Graphics of the Modern Era. Minneapolis MN: Zenith Press, 2014.

“Patchwork: The Shuttle’s First Crew Emblem.” CollectSpace > News. April 11, 2006.
Available @ http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-041106a.html

Wang, Jen Rae; Allard Beutel. “NASA Remembers Agency’s Most Experienced Astronaut.” NASA Press Release No. 18-001. Jan. 6, 2018.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-remembers-agency-s-most-experienced-astronaut

Wright, Rebecca. “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project Edited Oral History Transcript: Robert T. McCall.” March 28, 2000.
Available @ https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/oral_histories/McCallRT/McCallRT_3-28-00.htm