Guest: Donald Davis. Topics: Space art, space colonization, space history, and space vision. Our guest, Donald Davis, noted space artist and animator, talked about his art, space history, future projects, and space vision ideas. You can learn more about Don, his art, work, and projects by visiting www.donaldedavis.com. In our first segment, Don told us how he got started in the field of space art. The Life book, "The World We Live In' and his early work with the U.S. Geological Survey were significant influences as was Apollo and the early space program. He shared some of his Cosmos and Carl Sagan experiences with us and in response to questions, commented that space art in the publishing world has been on a steady decline for years, having peaked in the 1950s. He also talked about the impact on his generation of magazines and publications such as the Illustrated London News, sci-fi magazines, and Colliers. At the end of this segment, we talked about the new digital age and the International Association of Astronomical Artists. Our second segment started out with a detailed discussion of Don's work regarding the true colors on Mars and the May 1985 Sky and Telescope Colors of the Universe issue by Andrew T. Young of the Viking Imaging Team. Don't miss this discussion of the Mars and universe color chips, the actual Martian colors, and how to know if you are looking at preliminary jpeg photos that do not show the actual Martian colors. Don had much to say on this issue and suggested the Jim Bell websites as an excellent source for accurate Martian pictures, http://marswatch.astro.cornell.edu. In this segment, Don also shared his ideas on UFO's and aliens, we talked about the movie Avatar, and we began a discussion on space settlement and colonization regarding the work of Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill. Don talked about the importance to all humanity for space colonization, the required funding, should it be public, private or a mix and the contribution SSP might make to these development plans. Caller John asked Don about his impact painting series regarding Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. Don't miss what Don had to say about impacts as well as how Apollo peaked his interest. When I asked if the ISS inspired him, he said he did not find it exciting. He then introduced us to the idea of full dome video productions and full dome planetariums. He mentioned several of his full dome projects and told us more about his space art. As we started our third and final segment, Don said this was a time of opportunity, he referenced the Rasmussen polls, and as a result of a listener question, said that he does have a full dome space colonization short film almost ready to go. You will want to hear about this project. I asked him how much it would cost to make this film and the estimate was $300-$500,000. I asked him to explain more fully full dome units and he talked about tilted domes and identified a few planetariums built as tilted full dome units. When asked what he thought might be the best destination for our civil space policy, he said that for now it was the Moon. He also talked about unmanned exploration, virtual exploration, and a virtual participatory idea for lunar exploration that could involve those of us unable to visit the Moon. You will love his idea so listen carefully. Near the end of the show, when asked for his suggestions on what we can all do to help expedite the type of space development and vision talked about on this program, Don suggested spreading the word to our friends and associates, a word of mouth campaign. If you have questions or comments for Don Davis, he can be reached through his website above or the address listed on that site, DonDavis at TheGrid (dot) net.
Guest
The Space Show
