COSMIC CONQUERORS [SOLD]

 

Cosmic Conquerors, acrylic on canvas, 2023. 30" X 20"

In the early days of rocket science, no one knew what spaceflight was like, which is why engineers flew animals into space to test the survivability of spaceflight and learn how to launch and land living beings safely and to better understand how spaceflight might affect human bodies. These efforts paved the way to the subsequent human exploration of space. 

Animal space explorers

The first animals to reach space were fruit flies, which were launched on Feb. 20, 1947 by the United States. The flies were placed aboard captured German V-2 rockets in an experiment to study radiation exposure at high altitudes. In 3 minutes and 10 seconds of flight, the fruit flies reached an altitude of 68 miles before parachuting back to Earth. The flies miraculously survived the spaceflight.

The first animal to orbit the Earth was a dog named Laika, launched aboard Sputnik 2 by the Soviet Union on November 3, 1957. However, Laika died of heat exhaustion in orbit as a re-entry strategy could not be worked out in time for the launch.

On January 31, 1961, the first ape was launched into space: a chimpanzee named Ham, which was trained to perform tasks during spaceflight in the US-led Mercury space program. The main part of the mission was to test whether tasks could be performed in space. He successfully became the first animal to actually interact with a space vessel rather than simply ride in it.

On July 28, 1973, two garden spiders named Arabella and Anita were launched into space to study how orbiting earth would impact spiders' ability to spin webs. 

Two spacecraft are seen in the lower part of painting. In the lower left is Voyager 2, a space probe launched by NASA in 1977 to study the outer planets and interstellar space beyond the Solar System. In the lower right is Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite which was launched by the Soviet Union in October 4, 1957, sparking the Space Race which saw several breakthroughs in space exploration achieved by both the contending powers: the United States and the Soviet Union. 

Constellations

There are 42 animal constellations in the night sky, which comprises almost half of the official 88 constellations. In ancient times, people use star maps which contain drawings of animals which enable them to easily identify them. Four animals are illustrated in the painting in a similar concept: Leo the Lion, Taurus the Bull, Cancer the Crab and Scorpio the Scorpion. 

Nine constellations are hidden in the painting, including the four mentioned above:

The swirling clouds of gas in the background forms an observing "eye", which "observes" happenings in the universe and also gives a "point of view" of the universe. In the pupil of the "eye" is the Solar System with its planets and the Sun at the center. The planets (including the dwarf planet Pluto) play various important roles in astrology.


UPDATE: PAINTING SOLD & NEWS COVERAGE

Special thanks to Ms. Chew Mee Waing of Persatuan Amal Indah for organising the event on 21 April 2024:



Also special thanks to Mr. Tan Kok Wai of DAP Cheras for supporting the painter's painting, and Datuk Seri Lim Keng Cheng of EkoCheras Mall for this wonderful event.



The artist (centre) with Mr. Tan Kok Wai (second from right) of DAP Cheras. Photo by Huang Wenmin of Sin Chew Daily.



News coverage on the event


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