Imagining | Outside the Spacecraft

Did You Know?

Apollo and Skylab astronaut Alan Bean turned his interest in art into a career after he left NASA. This makes him the only person to go to the Moon and paint his impressions from memory.

Imagine, Create, Share!

Imagine yourself venturing out into space. How would you feel? We invite you to capture that feeling and submit original artwork. Selected works will be featured on our Imagining Spacewalks Tumblr.
Get inspired.

Very few have experienced firsthand the breathtaking views that can be seen while floating, walking, and working in space. But thanks to photographs and films captured by astronauts we can all imagine. For 50 years, these images have inspired artists, like those below, to create their own interpretations of the EVA experience.

Delineating the Constellations to Simplify Astronomy for the Average Man

Delineating the Constellations to Simplify Astronomy for the Average Man

Clayton Pond
Serigraph on paper
1980-81

This fanciful pop art-style print depicts a spacewalking astronaut outside the Space Shuttle's open payload bay doors. Clad in a Gemini-type spacesuit and tethered to the shuttle by umbilical cords, the astronaut appears to be linking stars to create familiar constellations.

Gift of Catherine P. Phillips

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Moon Walker

Moon Walker

Mitchell Jamieson
Ink on rice paper
Undated, probably 1969-70

Mitchell Jamieson was chosen as the first official artist for NASA's Project Mercury. Over the course of the space program, his work changed from enthusiastic in tone to darker images like this that reflected the conflict he felt over U.S. military actions in Asia. He feared that NASA's hopeful mission would be overtaken by military goals.

Transferred from NASA

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Lunar Confrontation

Lunar Confrontation

Robert Shore
Oil on Masonite
1970

In this fanciful work, Robert Shore imagined a space-suited Apollo astronaut encountering his not-so-distant inspiration: Jules Verne (identified by the French flag in his hand).

Transferred from NASA

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Moon Scene, Apollo 15

Moon Scene, Apollo 15

Tom O'Hara
Gouache on paper
Undated

This painting highlights the major achievement of Apollo 15: David Scott and James Irwin putting their extensive training as lunar geologists into practice.

Transferred from NASA

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Planetary Citizen

Planetary Citizen

Angela Manno
Batik
Undated

This is one of a 12-piece series of mixed-media paintings combining batik, the ancient medium of textile design, with color xerography. It reproduces the famous photo of Space Shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless flying the Manned Maneuvering Unit.

The quote at the bottom reads, "Each man comes back (to earth) with a feeling he is no longer only an American citizen; he is a planetary citizen." Planetary Citizen is Manno's signature piece.

Gift of Angela Manno

Think About It...

What would you include in your ideal picture of a planetary citizen?

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Man's First Step on the Moon

Man's First Step on the Moon

Norman Rockwell
Oil on canvas
1966

Norman Rockwell's images of wholesome, small-town America were widely popular during and after World War II. In 1966 Look magazine commissioned Rockwell to paint several works marking the imminent landing of humans on the Moon.

Rockwell recruited experienced space artist Pierre Mion to help him. Mion worked on the painting's color, drew the antennae atop the module, repainted the stars, and painted the spacecraft interior as seen through the windows. Because NASA regularly changed details about the lunar module's appearance, this painting does not include the distinctive gold Mylar wrapping used to reflect or absorb the Sun's heat.

The resulting work—a collaboration published under Rockwell's signature—anticipates Neil Armstrong's first step off the Eagle.

Gift of Norman Rockwell

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Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home

Alan Bean
Acrylic on aircraft board
1983

As an artist and an astronaut, Alan Bean brings a unique perspective to envisioning human spaceflight. In this depiction of his Apollo 12 mission, he shows Pete Conrad removing equipment from the lunar module's stowage bay. Bean wanted the painting to give viewers a sense of the lunar module's size, and how it provided a friendly home away from home during their time on the Moon.

Gift of Carol Sweeney

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The EVA of Astronaut James Irwin, or Apollo XV EVA

The EVA of Astronaut James Irwin, or Apollo XV EVA

Pierre Mion
Acrylic on canvas
1971

Working alongside Norman Rockwell, Pierre Mion created some impressive space art. Here, he depicted Apollo 15 lunar module pilot James Irwin monitoring the spacewalk of command module pilot Alfred Worden, who is reflected in Irwin's visor retrieving film. A nearly full Moon in the background reminds the viewer of where the astronauts have just been.

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Looking Back

Looking Back

Charles Jennings
Acrylic on canvas
1974

After the Apollo missions ended, the Skylab program kept astronauts much closer to home. Here, Skylab 3 pilot Jack Lousma performs an EVA, with the Moon far away over his shoulder and the Skylab space station and nearby Earth reflected in his visor.

Gift of Charles Jennings

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Dale A. Gardner, Space Shuttle Mission 51-A

Dale A. Gardner, Space Shuttle Mission 51-A

Dale A. Gardner, Space Shuttle Mission 51-A

George D. Guzzi Jr.
Watercolor on paper
1985

This entry for the Museum's "Looking at Earth" competition and exhibition of 1985 shows Dale Gardner tethered to the exterior of Space Shuttle Discovery. During that mission, Gardner and Joseph Allen donned jet-propelled maneuvering units on spacewalks to recover two malfunctioning satellites.

Gift of George D. Guzzi, Jr.

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Ace the Test

Ace the Test

Michael Knigin
Archival pigment print
1988

This photographic collage uses an image of astronauts Jerry Ross and Sherwood Spring as they performed an assembly experiment called ACCESS in the payload bay during the Space Shuttle STS-61B mission. The test's purpose was to see how quickly EVA astronauts became fatigued by assembly projects.

Michael Knigin produced this piece for NASA to commemorate the Return to Flight mission of Discovery in 1988. He used elements of the real and surreal to mark the first shuttle flight after the loss of Challenger in 1986.

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Fotios Sapsis

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