Week 9 Space + Art

This week’s lectures were amongst the most interesting to me. As a child I always enjoyed watching The Jetsons. The Jetsons TV show has been around for just over 50 years, at the same time as the cold war.

The Jetsons TV Show Characters

I was too young at the time to understand that such technology actually existed and was improving day by day. The topic of space and art will continue to be a huge driving force in scientific advancements around the globe. As we learned this week, the Soviets launched Sputnik I in 1957 which made history by becoming the first artificial satellite (NASA.gov). Soon after Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut was sent into outer space and completed an orbit of the Earth (Wikipedia.org).

Yuri Gagarin
Neil Armstrong

This prompted the USA to respond by sending Neil Armstrong to be the first human to physically walk on the moon (Wikipedia.org).
All of this, to me, shows how us humans have been extremely interested and invested in the art of space travel and discoveries. We have created countless numbers of movies, tv shows and documentaries based on outer space and the planets.
 
Rosie the futuristic robot from The Jetsons
The Jetsons do in turn do an impressive job of pointing to the “golden age” of American futurism as they had all the technology that we are currently moving towards such as robot maids (or doctor), jetpacks and many more futuristic technologies (Smithsonian.com).  



Resources:

Vanesa, Victoria. "Space Pt6." YouTube. Victoria Vanesa, 30 May 2012. Web. 04 June 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYmOtFjIj0M&feature=youtu.be

Dunbar, Brian. "Biography of Neil Armstrong." NASA. NASA, 10 Mar. 2015. Web. 04 June 2017.
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/bios/neilabio.html

Novak, Matt. "50 Years of the Jetsons: Why The Show Still Matters." Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution, 19 Sept. 2012. Web. 04 June 2017.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/50-years-of-the-jetsons-why-the-show-still-matters-43459669/

"Yuri Gagarin." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 June 2017. Web. 04 June 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin

Usborne, Simon. "Back to the Future: Why The Jetsons Is the Most Influential TV Show of the 20th Century." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 24 Oct. 2012. Web. 04 June 2017.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/back-to-the-future-why-the-jetsons-is-the-most-influential-tv-show-of-the-20th-century-8225272.html

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