Jon Gibson and Amanda White, best known for their popular iam8bit gallery in Los Angeles, have teamed up with spacecraft manufacturer Clyde Space to develop a functioning satellite that will double as a pop-art installation in Space.
Clyde Space built the small satellite that will monitor atmospheric conditions and send back images and information from 373 miles above Earth. Gibson and White on the other hand were tasked with using computer generated imagery to make the satellite look like an electrical charger circling Earth. The design was then placed on a shoebox-sized satellite filled with wires, antennae, sensors, solar panels and sensitive equipment.
As the duo couldn't paint the satellite as this would deteriorate over time and give off a gas that would fog the satellite's camera, images of computer buttons, a USB port and the words "Greetings Beleaguered Space Traveler. Welcome to the Universe's First Celestial Charging Station," had to be etched right onto the satellite's side.
"If someone is going to invade our planet, presumably they're going to come in some sort of electronic, electricity-powered ship," Gibson said. "Maybe this will make them stop for a moment and say, 'These guys are nice. We're not going to destroy their planet.'"
