NASA’s 60th anniversary logo, created by Matthew Skeins. The logo’s arrangement is intended to evoke a quote attributed to 17th century physicist Isaac Newton: “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” (NASA)
In the run up to the 60th anniversary of its establishment as a US government agency this year, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) you may have missed that it unveiled an official logo to mark the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Apollo Program.
NADA was established on 29th July 1958, with the signing of legislation by President Dwight Eisenhower. The agency celebrates its birthday on 1st October 2018, the day it formally began operation.
From October through December 2022, NASA will mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Program that landed a dozen Americans on the moon between July 1969 and December 1972.
NASA unveiled its official logo for use in observing these milestone anniversaries Friday at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington at the end of May.
The unveiling was part of “NSO Pops: Space, the Next Frontier,” a National Symphony Orchestra celebration of NASA’s 60 years of accomplishment.
Image: NASA
Created by NASA graphic artist Matthew Skeins, the logo offers a nod to the past with a few elements borrowed from the original program emblem, and a glimpse into the future with a graphic depiction of NASA’s vision for the next half-century of deep space exploration.
The arc through the word “Apollo” represents Earth’s limb, or horizon, as seen from a spacecraft. It serves as a reminder of how the first views of Earth from the Moon – one of NASA’s crowning achievements — forever transformed the way we see ourselves as human beings. It also affirms NASA’s intention to continue pushing the boundaries of knowledge and delivering on the promise of American ingenuity and leadership in space.
The original Apollo emblem, adopted by the program in 1965, used drawings of the Moon and Earth linked by a double trajectory to portray President John F. Kennedy’s goal of “putting a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth” by the end of the 1960s.
In a similar fashion, the Apollo 50th anniversary logo describes a contemporary goal, with images of the Moon and Mars filling the first and second “O”s, respectively, and the phrase “Next Giant Leap” beneath the word “Apollo.” Neil Armstrong declared his first step onto the lunar surface from the ladder of the Eagle lander on July 20, 1969, to be “one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
NASA is working to return astronauts to the Moon to test technologies and techniques for the next giant leaps – challenging missions to Mars and other destinations in deep space.
NASA’s Exploration Campaign includes US leadership in low-Earth orbit, in orbit around the Moon and on its surface, and at destinations far beyond, including Mars. Credits: NASA
The original Apollo emblem was a composite design derived from the ideas of NASA employees and contractor personnel. It featured the constellation Orion overlaid on a capital letter “A.” The constellation was positioned so that its three central stars formed the bar in the initial for “Apollo.”
In the 50th anniversary logo, elements of the same star field recall the collective effort of some 400,000 people who worked on the Apollo Program – an 11-year series of 33 spaceflights including six that reached the lunar surface. The three central stars are repositioned diagonally beside “50” to emphasise the many sacrifices made in pursuit of the lunar goal — especially the lives of Apollo 1 astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee who perished in a capsule fire during a test on the launch pad in January 1967.
The star field, like the rest of the anniversary logo, is set against a blue nebula as an acknowledgement that human footprints on distant worlds is not too big a dream, and confirmation that NASA already is working toward that goal.
If you’re looking for the comic connection in this story, then what better way to remind you about Apollo, written Dead Canary Comics founders Chris Baker and Matt Fitch with art by Mike Collins, coloured by Kris Carter – the story of the first moon landing?
Available now (check out our preview here), Apollo is a brilliant full-length graphic novel published by SelfMadeHero and part-funded by Arts Council England, recounting the story of the first men on the moon, unpacking the urban legends, the gossip and the speculation to tell a story about life, death, dreams and the reality of human kind’s greatest achievement in exploration.
• The Apollo 50th anniversary logo is available for download from the NASA Images and Video Library
• For more information about NASA’s plan for the future, visit this NASA web page
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Art and Illustration, British Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Other Worlds
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