NASA selects SpaceX's lunar optimized Starship for Artemis program

Today NASA announced that three US companies - SpaceX, Blue Origin & Dynetics - will develop the human landers that will land astronauts on the Moon beginning in 2024 as part of the Artemis program. And SpaceX shared some renders of the "lunar optimized Starship" which is developed "to transport crew between lunar orbit and the surface of the Moon". SpaceX added that "a lunar optimized Starship can fly many times between the surface of the Moon and lunar orbit without flaps or heat shielding required for Earth return. With large habitable and storage volume, Starship is capable of delivering significant amounts of cargo for research and to support robust operations on the lunar surface to enable a sustainable Moon base."

Starman brings life to Mars

Starman brings life to Mars - inspiring cosplay photo of SpaceX's Starman holding a seedling in pressurized glass cloche at a location similar to Martian terrain by Eli Burton, known as Real Life Starman.

Savanna in a greenhouse on Mars by Casey Richards

Picture of the Day 25/4/2020 - wildlife of African savanna in a spacious greenhouse on Mars by South African illustrator Casey Richards. More of her art here.

Mars base by Dotted Yeti

Picture of the Day 21/4/2020 - small modular human base on Mars by Dotted Yeti.

SpaceX Super Heavy landing burn by Roger Bootsma

Picture of the Day 19/4/2020 - Landing burn of SpaceX's Super Heavy (the booster stage of the Starship) by Austrian 3D environment artist Roger Bootsma. More of his art here.

Family on Mars by Patrick Leger

Picture of the Day 14/4/2020 - retro style illustration with family exploring surroundings of a Mars colony by American illustrator Patrick Leger. Note the boy pointing at blue Earth in the Martian sky :) More of Leger's art here.

NASA astronaut on Mars by James Vaughan

Two variants of a scene with NASA's astronaut on Mars by photographer and concept artist James Vaughan - one with a small human base in the background and the second in front of an exploration rover. More of Vaughan's aerospace and defense concept art here.

SpaceX Starship fleet leaving Earth by Roger Bootsma

Video animation with SpaceX's fleet of 100 Starships leaving Earth's orbit to colonize Mars by Austrian 3D environment artist Roger Bootsma. More of his art here.

Mars base exteriors from Doom (2005) movie

"Doom" is a 2005 sci-fi horror action movie loosely based on the Doom video game series. In the movie, set in mid-21st century, a group of marines are sent on a rescue mission to a research facility on Mars, where they encounter genetically engineered violent creatures with superhuman abilities. Exterior of the Martian research facility is shown only in a few split-seconds in the movie and here are images from those rare moments:

Mars base by Ondra Štefák

Picture of the Day 28/2/2020 - Mars base by Czech motion designer Ondra Štefák.