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Drawing on the Past to Paint the Future Martian Picture

July 29, 2005

This image is a four-frame, horizontal art piece featuring four of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's vital mission phases. From left to right they are: launch, aerobraking, science and relay. Each frame is a colorful, surrealistic representation of that particular event done by artist Tina DiCicco. The launch frame features a stylistic, black rocket leaning away from Earth to simulate take off. The rocket is trailed by a tail of small red, orange and yellow shapes meant to represent the engines firing. The second frame is aerobraking and features a colorful, boxy spacecraft using its large, rectangular solar panels for drag in the martian atmosphere. The third frame represents the science phase of the mission when the spacecraft actually begins collecting vital data. In this artistic image, the boxy spacecraft is orbiting a red Mars, using its powerful HiRISE camera to view the surface in unprecedented detail. The swaths of data it takes are represented by purple and green triangles of color on the planet's surface. The final frame is meant to represent the relay phase. Against a purple sky, a rover on the martian surface sends information (drawn as a line) to the boxy Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the orbiter, in turn, returns the information (line) back to Earth.
Artist Tina DiCicco's image highlights four important stages of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission: launch, aerobraking, science and relay.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/DiCicco
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Visual artist Tina DiCicco grew up around Mars and Venus and Saturn, but she never really "visited" until recently. The daughter of a retired JPL engineer and a food designer who had her own television cooking show, DiCicco was weaned on entrepreneurial spirit and creativity.

While she knew her artistically destined path in sixth grade, DiCicco recently dove into the solar system that has loomed large during her life. Hearing about NASA's next mission to Mars from a friend who works on it, DiCicco was inspired to try her hand at blending art and science in honor of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, scheduled for launch on August 10, 2005.


This image is a picture of artist Tina DiCicco. She is a Caucasian woman in her thirties with chestnut brown hair. She is smiling in this close-up image.
Artist Tina DiCicco
Image credit: DiCicco
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Born Creator

Believing that engineering and visual art are intimately connected, DiCicco has brought a decidedly different look to a complex mission that will provide the highest-resolution images yet from orbit around the red planet.

"My dad was a creator as well," she reflected. "To apply my vision to this complicated mission is just a different kind of artwork."

While contemplating her approach, DiCicco did Internet searches on basic aerospace terms, but wasn't really inspired. Looking at the acronym "MRO" that represents the mission, the artist in her was drawn to Joan Miró, the Spanish painter.

"I've been doing some abstract art and surrealism," DiCicco noted. "MRO is like Miró, so I began to look at a lot of his work. I was interested in paying tribute to his stars and his colors. For the MRO artwork, I decided I wanted to apply classic abstract surrealist art to space exploration."


This image is of DiCicco's art piece called 'The Art of Exploration.' At the top the letters MRO, representing the mission, are in dark blue. Across those, the mission name is written out in yellow letters in a fun font with stars dotting the 'i's.
Artist Tina DiCicco's beautiful depiction of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter gathering vital science data at Mars.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/DiCicco
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In much the same way that artists seek to visually express the unknown, space explorers hope to shed light on the ambiguity of the story of our solar system, of our universe, of ourselves. Artists, engineers and scientists are compelled by the universal human need for knowledge - the desire to understand and represent the earth under our own feet and the rocky and gaseous orbs that dot our dark skies.

"I looked at what influenced Miró - overlapping linework. The intersection where lines overlap creates a new space and that's where you find new things. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission is about finding new things in those places."


In this image, artist Tina DiCicco is seated, wearing a black t-shirt. She is using oil pastels to draw a colorful piece of artwork. This is the same as the third frame in the four-frame picture above. It represents the science phase of the mission when the spacecraft actually begins collecting vital data. In this artistic image, the boxy spacecraft is orbiting a red Mars, using its powerful HiRISE camera to view the surface in unprecedented detail. The swaths of data it takes are represented by purple and green triangles of color on the planet's surface.
DiCicco at work on a colorful piece.
Image credit: DiCicco
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Creative Art for an Innovative Mission

Just as lines in the artwork crisscross and support the space in between, the multiple, powerful instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will jointly reveal the red planet like never before. The HiRISE camera (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment), for example, will make it difficult for small features to hide from its gaze. The camera will be capable of resolving objects as small as a dining table from its orbit in space! Earlier orbiters could only "see" objects the size of school buses.

This leap in capability defines NASA's Mars Exploration Program, which operates in a cumulative fashion, each mission building on the last and working cooperatively during their respective mission lifetimes.

As an artist, DiCicco too has the benefit of learning from those who have come before her. And like the latest Mars mission, she creates artwork with new, advanced equipment.

"I have limitations since I have children who have access to crayons," she joked. "I do scratchwork and get a feel for what it could be. Then I create the linework for it in black ink. Then I get that onto the computer and there I can do textures and colorization - pulling color in from different sources. Having it on the computer protects it from my kids. The computer is just another medium. It's a marriage between traditional and modern. I started out probably the way Miró did, but I finished it in a way he couldn't, or most likely, wouldn't."


This image is of a little green alien meant to represent the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission capability. The character is wearing a green and red flowered
Looking like an overly enthusiastic tourist, DiCicco's quirky character emphasizes the mission's ability to "see" as no other orbiter before it.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/DiCicco
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DiCicco also used her creative touch to design a whimsical representation of the mission which was quickly adopted as an informal mascot by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter team.

In another melding of art and science, the quirky "tourist" embodies many of the mission's actual capabilities. The large eye represents the HiRISE camera, while the smaller eye signifies the CTX (Context Camera). The black camera with the colorful rainbow symbolizes both the CRISM spectrometer and the MARCI weather camera. The other black camera represents the many other experiments onboard. The right ear is facing downward and is meant to stand for the Mars Climate Sounder instrument and the antennae represent the SHARAD antenna.

"Tina did a great job with her artwork. It has definitely been an inspiration to our team," said Jim Graf, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter project manager. "Her approach takes the objective of the mission to the public and to kids in particular. Reaching out is an important aspect of the mission."


This picture features an image of Mars in the background, with an four square insets that nest within each other, representing the ability of the spacecraft to see the planet Mars in unprecedented detail. The insets show detail of a large crater.
This image simulates the capability of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to zoom in on targeted locations on Mars.
Image credit: NASA/JPL
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Planet of Surprises

Past and current orbital and landed missions have revealed bundles of information about Mars. However, there are still surprises to be uncovered and higher resolution from orbit is key to flushing out Mars' elusive history.

"Higher resolution is a major driver for this mission," said project scientist Dr. Rich Zurek. "Every time we look with increased resolution, Mars has said, 'Here's something you didn't expect. You don't understand me yet.' We're sure to find surprises."

This element of surprise clearly appealed to DiCicco as she contemplated how to represent the new mission artistically. On Mars, as in surrealism, things are not always as they seem.

"Mars is probably the most alluring planet," DiCicco observed. "It's not necessarily the socialite of the solar system, but it's getting a lot of the attention. It is the center of so much of the storytelling. We have such a fascination with Mars; it's like your saucy next-door neighbor who has something to hide...and you can't help wanting to find out!"


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