Blue Origin on Thursday launched artwork painted by an African Artist Into Space.
Gatekeepers News reports that the paintings were made on capsule by Ghana artist Amoako Boafo.
Blue Origin launched the artwork and moon-landing navigation experiment for NASA into space, a month after its founder, Jeff Bezos was sent on the company’s first passenger flight.
Although, there was no one aboard for Thursday’s 10-minute flight, which included other experiments from NASA and others.
Boafa’s paintings were on three parachute panels on the outside of the capsule at the very top.
The Ghanaian artist painted a self-portrait as well as portraits of his mother and a friend’s mother, explaining “a mother’s love comes from a place that is out of this world,” according to Blue Origin launch commentator Kiah Erlich.
Blue Origin said Ghanaian students tuned into the launch webcast, adding that the Utah-based Uplift Aerospace Inc. commissioned Boafo’s work, “Suborbital Triptych”, as part of its new art-in-space program.
The New Shepard rocket which took off from West Texas is Blue Origin’s 17th trip to space.
“The booster landed upright several minutes after liftoff. The fully automated capsule continued to an altitude of 66 miles (105 kilometers) before parachuting down nearby.”
The paintings were on triangular-shaped panels a few feet in size and detached from the capsule when the parachutes were deployed.
They would be recovered from the desert floor, according to the company spokeswoman.
