Peninsula at Peace - The Arabian Peninsula and Mediterranean viewed from space

·•IMPERIAL EARTH•·

The

Space & Astronomical Art

of
Artist-Engineer

B·E·JOHNSON

Photographs That
Haven't Been Taken

 Spacecraft 


The Solar B Observatory  
Solar B Telescope Spacecraft
The Solar B Observatory
A joint project of JAXA, NAOJ, NASA, Lockheed Martin, SAO and PPARC, Solar B studies our star at the highest resolutions in multiple wavelengths.
The Chandra X-Ray Observatory  
Chandra To See WIth New Eyes
Today's most powerful, high resolution X-Ray imaging telescope.

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The STARDUST Comet Sample Return Mission
In History's Way
The STARDUST spacecraft makes final adjustments and braces for impact as Comet Wild-2, carrying information dating from the formation of our solar system, overtakes rapidly from behind.

An adaptation from "Encounter ~ The Final Trim"
for the cover of "Scientific American".

Stardust - Scientific American Magazine
The STARDUST Panoramas

Mission Art created for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Encounter: The Final Trim Encounter:
The Final Trim

2004: After its five year journey, the STARDUST spacecraft prepares to enter the coma of Comet Wild-2 and return the first samples to Earth.
In The Thick Of It In The Thick Of It
Now deep inside the comet's coma at closest approach to the nucleus, the spacecraft is pummeled by particles as it speeds past at 13,000 miles per hour.
Headin' Home Headin' Home
Mission Success! Severely pummeled but triumphantly intact, the spacecraft has now passed out of danger. Its Whipple Shields bearing the scars of battle can be easily seen as the spacecraft sails on toward home.
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The STARDUST QuickTime Virtual Reality

The QuickTimeVR made from the STARDUST Panoramas.

A passing shower fills a depression in the crawlerway, providing a reflecting pool during one of my visits to the pad on the evening of launch.
 Space Art
To Sleep, Perchance to Dream...
To fly is to live. All else is merely waiting.
This painting resides in the NASA/Smithsonian Fine Art Collection.

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Miles To Go Before I SleepFinal Approach of Shuttle Columbia
Keeping a date with the Recovery Convoy.
This original painting resides in the
NASA/Smithsonian Fine Art Collection.

RSS Rollback
T-minus 8 hours and counting...
With the storm now past and twilight gathering, the Rotating Service Structure is moved into launch position, exposing the orbiter for the first time since arrival at the pad.
A New Ocean - Shuttle Flying 'Under' the Earth
A New Ocean
The sun glint precedes you, sparkling on the Pacific overhead, as you begin another "day" in space. Very popular in the Astronaut Office, this image has become a tribute to the program ended all too soon.

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Tomorrow is Yesterday
Tomorrow is Yesterday
~ Acrylic
Star Trek Original Voyage
Episode 21
First Approach
First Approach
STS-9 Columbia-SpaceLab One at rest on Rogers Dry Lake, Edwards Air Force Base, California.
Form Following Function
Form Following Function

Decidedly a kinetic sculpture.
The Rudder/Speed Brake shown in relaxed position.
Space Art
The Hunt

Science 84 Magazine two page opener on the international contingent to first visit Comet Halley
Coca-Cola Space Can
Coke Float

Commissioned by the Coca-Cola Corporation to commemorate the flight of the first Space Can, a micro-gravity carbonated beverage dispenser developed for NASA.

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Recovery in ProgressRecovery in Progress
The Recovery Crew working close to the timeline. Engineers and technicians swarm over, inside and under the orbiter documenting its post-flight status and preparing her for tow.
Reflections
Reflections

That which has gone before and that which shall come after, reflected for a fleeting moment in an Astronaut's visor at the close of the final EVA.

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 Workers Tending the Queen
The recovery of Columbia
STS-9 / Spacelab One
at Edwards Air Force Base.

 Detail
This original resides in the NASA/Smithsonian
Fine Art Collection.
The Thrust of the Matter
The Thrust of the Matter

The Space Shuttle Main Engines;
genuine engineering works of art - with a punch!
Shuttle Flight at Dawn Twilight's First Gleaming
Sunrise on orbit - sixteen of them a day. From a description by United States Astronaut
Joseph P. Allen.

Servicing the Hubble Space Telescope
Out Takin' Five

You are part of the care and feeding of the Hubble Space Telescope.

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Forty Two Satellites - No Waiting!
Commissioned by Allied Signal, this image shows all of the birds that they have provided systems for.

The Orient Express

New York to Hong Kong for lunch,
back in time for dinner.
Space Art
Tomorrow is Yesterday
~ Watercolor
Star Trek Original Voyage Episode 21

Heading for the MDD

A far, far cry from the speed she is used to, the orbiter begins the long, slow and careful journey to the Mate/De-mate Device.
Space Art
Sentry of the High Ground
Block-D land-looker on patrol.
Space ArtTiros-M
Near-polar orbit NOAA weather satellite.
Space Art
Geosynchronicity
A commission for RCA Corporation showing communications satellites constructed for other companies. The new ACTS satellite commands center stage.
Space Art
The New Colonists

Design study for STS ET recycling facility.
Hangin' Out With the GuysHangin' Out With the Guys
Gripped firmly in the Mate/De-mate Device, the orbiter is safed, stowed, tested, powered down, hoisted into the air and mounted on the spine of the Shuttle Transport Aircraft for the ferry flight to Kennedy Space Center to begin another mission.

Space Art