Art goes to Mars...

London based contemporary artist Stephen Little has launched one of his artworks to Mars aboard a Delta II rocket.

London based contemporary artist Stephen Little has launched one of his artworks to Mars aboard a Delta II rocket. Launched on June 10th, 2003 with NASAs Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission, his work is due to arrive on Mars on January 3rd, 2004.

His art work 'monochrome (for Mars) was included on a NASA DVD and bolted to one of the ramp petals of both Mars landers. After landing on Mars the rovers will capture an image of the DVD before driving away from the lander. Each DVDs design includes magnets to collect dust and colours to study colour appearance under a Martian sky. The DVD is made of silica glass and has a much longer life span than commercial DVDs lasting more than 500 years. The DVD containing the artwork will remain on the lander for future generations.

The Mars Exploration Rovers seek to determine the history of climate and water at two sites on Mars where conditions may have once been favourable to life.

Contact: odysseyproject@hotmail.com