Art for the moon is taking off in March, in the form of an engraving on gold by artist Sacha Jafri.
Jafri’s work, “We Rise Together — By the Light of the Moon,” is scheduled to fly into space on a United Launch Alliance rocket powered by engines developed by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. The launch is supposed to take place at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the first week of March.
“The original artwork was this beautiful heart motif. Two figures entwined, reconnecting and around them is blossoming flora, fauna,” explained Jafri. He says he wanted to capture “the unification of humanity through love and empathy” in his design, which shows a male and female figure surrounded by 88 hearts.
The etching is done on a gold alloy developed to withstand the environment of the lunar surface without eroding away due to dust.
The 88 heart stands for the 88 NFTs of the work which will be released for sale the moment the physical work lands on the moon. The proceeds of those NTFs will be donated to humanitarian charities, according to Jafri.
“I’m hoping to raise a huge amount of money for the four main charitable concerns of our world — health, education, sustainability, and equality,” he said.
The art for the moon was commissioned by Spacebit, a UK-based company which develops robotic technologies for space. The etching will be left by lunar lander in a crater known as Lacus Mortis (the Lake of Death), and it will remain there as long as conditions do not bury it.
Jafri’s art for the moon isn’t the only work designed for extra-planetary display – Liat Segal and physicist Yasmine Meroz designed a small piece called “Impossible Object” last year which can only exist without gravity.
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