posted 09-24-2020 04:00 PM               

Estée Lauder paying NASA for skincare photoshoot on space station

A high-profile cosmetics company is providing a new look for NASA by using the International Space Station to market its products.

Estée Lauder is paying NASA to launch bottles of its nighttime skincare serum so they can be photographed aboard the International Space Station. The company is using the flight of its Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex to create content for its social media channels, as well as deliver back a unique flown-in-space artifact that Estée Lauder intends to auction for charity.

posted 09-24-2020 05:07 PM               

But maybe that is the point: by opening up the opportunity, companies that you would never think be interested in flying products to space will step forward and lead the way.

posted 09-24-2020 07:22 PM               

I recently read a book about the aftermath of the Lewis and Clark expeditions. For thousands of years, the Native Americans had kept the land pristine and whole. Their communities weren't affected by ownership or greed, and they didn't think of their environment in terms of financial resources. The concept of "owning" a mountain or a forest was completely foreign to them. The Lewis and Clark company were welcomed by the Nez Perce tribe in what became Washington state, because they came as explorers, not exploiters. But once Lewis and Clark had returned with their findings, the land was quickly overrun by fur trappers, logging companies, gold miners, and U.S. government officials, all seeking wealth and expansion.

The chief of the Nez Perce, Joseph, warned the incoming people that as long as they saw this fertile region in terms of profit, devastation would follow. The key to their survival had been to respect the land as something more valuable than any amount of money. But he was ignored, and eventually his tribe was driven out of the land, after the U.S. government bought the entire region from a neighboring tribe. Of this, Joseph said, "Suppose a white man should come to me and say, 'Joseph, I like your horses. I want to buy them.' I say to him, 'No, my horses suit me; I will not sell them.' Then he goes to my neighbor and says, 'Pay me money, and I will sell you Joseph's horses.' The white man returns to me and says, 'Joseph, I have bought your horses and you must let me have them.' If we sold our lands to the government, this is the way they bought them." But Joseph and the others were forced into reservations, so that the business leaders of America could move in. And all of Joseph's warnings came true. The American frontier is now just a filthy network of highways, office buildings, and shopping malls, like everything else.

And space is quickly becoming the same way. Less than a century ago, it belonged to no one. About 60 years ago, a few brave explorers ventured up for the first time. And just a few decades later, it's become the playground (and gold mine) of the wealthy and powerful. Governments are increasing their military presence in space on a constant basis. Billionaires are exploiting it for fame, fortune, and corporate dominance. And every day, it fills up with more trash. In a few decades, the night sky will have transformed entirely. The grandeur of the universe will be overwhelmed by the lights of hundreds of thousands of satellites, like headlights at rush hour.

posted 09-24-2020 07:38 PM               

There is no more exploring to be done in low Earth orbit (which, to be clear, is the not the same thing as saying there is no more to be learned in Earth orbit). We generally know how to get there, how to stay there (at least for relatively brief stays) and how to return home. Exploration has given way to utilization, which can be a good thing, depending on your perspective.

But the moon? Mars? The moons of Mars? The moons of Jupiter and Saturn? Those have barely been explored and are ripe for investigation by humans, where appropriate, and robotic probes.

For NASA and other space agencies to pursue those exploration missions, they first need to free up the funds they have tied up in low Earth orbit. They still need resources in low Earth orbit, but they no longer need to be the operators. That is where commercialization can play a valuable role. If a business case can be made for operating orbital platforms, then federal funds can be refocused on exploration again.

posted 09-24-2020 07:50 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by hbw60:
It's sad to see space travel becoming so commercialized in recent years.

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Ironically, a commercial product photoshoot to produce an image such as this will require a lot of post processing and manipulation (Photoshopping) to remove scratches and other marks from the ISS hardware (including the window protective panes), and touching up the product packaging to make it look advertising ready. So it's like applying makeup to cosmetics.

This example, shown with the same lighting on each bottle, would be easily achieved on Earth, take up less of the crew's time and space, and the fees applied to fly, stage, and shoot a product image would have more impact here on Earth.

posted 09-24-2020 07:57 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by oly:
...to make it look advertising ready.

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posted 09-24-2020 08:05 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
...Estée Lauder is not a threat to the frontier, but it may be the start of the foundation from where it can be reached.

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And I wish NASA had made better financial decisions in the early stages of developing the Shuttle/ISS. When I read Walt Cunningham's book "The All-American Boys," I was shocked to see some of the details, particularly regarding the way Russia has mismanaged their share of the ISS funding and exploited the US. Those decisions were made decades ago, and they're still hurting the program today.

posted 09-24-2020 08:17 PM               

NASA wants to get out of the low Earth orbit business, but it doesn't want to deorbit the space station while doing so. It wants to find a way to keep the space station going until such time that commercial platforms can take its place.

posted 06-14-2021 07:18 PM               

Our #1 serum Advanced Night Repair consistently receives five stars — so it was only natural that the bottle should travel among them!

Thanks to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity aboard the International Space Station, our Little Brown Bottle got to hop a flight to space. We’re always searching for the next frontiers in scientific research and skincare, and now Advanced Night Repair got to push past the boundaries outside of this world.