Common Themes

These interesting stamps from India are a 2000 release, featuring children’s artwork of space exploration.

Is that a sunspot? No, it’s actually the International Space Station in transit across the Sun. See?

And if you think that’s amazing to behold, check out this photo, with not only the ISS in transit, but the space shuttle about to link up with it.

B. E. Johnson renders wonderfully detailed images of spacecraft (fictional and non-fictional). There’s a lot more to see on his website, check it out!

I’ve been interested in astronomy and space since I was a kid, marvelling at the art I saw in books and magazines about space, spaceflight and space exploration. I read everything I could get my hands on.

Perhaps one day I would go.

Now I do. Little did I know that I would become a space artist myself and inspire new generations to explore space. It turns out I am what I have termed a “method painter”, putting myself in the moment; in the place that I am painting in order to more richly convey the essence of what it’s like to be in space. Not only how it looks but how it feels.

In this age of plastic and… more plastic? I just love wooden things. This puzzle is child-safe, non-toxic, hand-crafted and lovely to look at.

Photos and quoted material courtesy of TechVantage Consulting, L.L.C..

I never saw this 1984 pinball machine, but my husband remembers it being in his local pizza joint when he was a kid — here’s two restoration stories, both with lots of pictures! I love how the Space Shuttle is named Defender (as if the shuttle could defend… anything?) Ed points out that the playing field has an image of the Hubble Space Telescope, six years before launch; very cool in hindsight! Between these two sites, I’ve no doubt that if you stumbled upon a Space Shuttle pinball machine in need of repair, you’d have abundant resources to fix it up and ship it to me. You know you want to. At least, *I* want you to!

Space Shuttle was manufactured by Williams in 1984. A total of 7,620 games were produced. The game was designed by Barry Oursler. Space Shuttle was one of only three System 9 games released by Williams, the other two being Comet and Sorcerer. Fun fact: Space Shuttle was the first Williams game to feature a “toy” on the playfield.

One thing that makes this restoration unique is that the owner was directly involved with the Hubble Space Telescope, and obtained quite a few autographs on his playfield from astronauts and NASA greats. I’m sure every restoration is unique, but this one takes the cake!