LTA8 Lunar Test Article

The LTA8 Lunar Test Article fine art print by Benedict Redgrove captures the reaction control system nose thrusters of Space Shuttle Discovery in extraordinary detail, part of a nine-year documentary photography project on the American space program.

The Artist

Benedict Redgrove is a British photographer whose project, NASA: Past and Present Dreams of the Future, stands among the most ambitious documentary art series ever produced on the space program. He spent five years negotiating and building trust with NASA before gaining access to laboratories, assembly rooms, and mission control facilities that are rarely open to outside photographers. He entered the Lunar Samples Lab to photograph the priceless moon rocks returned by the Apollo missions, watched the International Space Station pass at sunset from mission control, and stood inside the clean rooms where the next generation of spacecraft were being built. The result is a body of work built on the conviction that these objects are worth looking at with the seriousness usually reserved for religious relics.

The Piece

This print documents the reaction control system nose thrusters of the LTA8 Lunar Test Article and Space Shuttle Discovery, photographed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy in Washington. Each image in the series is built from technical camera captures with digital backs, some composed of more than 60 exposures composited to render every detail. The result is a finely detailed fine art print that lets the object tell its own story, capturing 50 years of space exploration history in a single, rigorously produced image.

Specifications

• Artist: Benedict Redgrove
• Series: NASA: Past and Present Dreams of the Future
• Subject: LTA8 Lunar Test Article, detail of reaction control system nose thrusters, Space Shuttle Discovery, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy, Washington
• Image size: 37.5 x 50 inches
• Sheet size: 43.5 x 56 inches
• Technique: Composite fine art photography (technical camera with digital back)
• Type: Limited-edition fine art print

Discover the full NASA by Benedict Redgrove collection at TheArsenale.