posted 09-11-2007 05:10 PM               

The UA is Over the Moon About Mars

Monthly events are scheduled in anticipation of the Phoenix Mars Mission

The Phoenix Mars Mission is on its way to the Red Planet after a flawless launch from Cape Canaveral in early August. With landing scheduled for late May 2008, it might seem like there is nothing to do but wait through a long nine months. But The University of Arizona won't be idle during the cruise phase. Mission scientists are diligently preparing for landing and science operations. And the rest of the UA is quite busy, too, with celebration activities planned for every month through landing.

It all kicks off at the Sept. 15 home football game against New Mexico, when the UA Pride of Arizona marching band will perform a special halftime tribute to Mars that includes an original Mars drill cadence. Peter Smith, UA senior research scientist and principal investigator for the mission, will be a special guest.

For Family Weekend, Oct. 19-21, a prominent landing countdown clock will be installed in the Student Union rotunda and the Union's Alumni Lounge will house a special exhibit dedicated to Mars. The exhibit will include large-scale images from the UA's HiRISE camera, currently returning stunning images from aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The theme for Homecoing, Nov. 2-4, is "Exploring New Frontiers." Students will have an opportunity to celebrate the mission through Mars-themed float designs.

The Flandrau Science Center will send eyes to the sky in December, when Mars will be easiest to view from Earth. A new Mars planetarium show is planned with special lectures centered on the Phoenix Mission. Flandrau visitors can also enjoy Mars-gazing by telescope.

"Mars and the Movies" is in the works for January, when a major Hollywood film company comes to campus for seminars and lectures about special effects and science in film.

In February, the State Capitol Museum in Phoenix will house an exhibit currently in production about the history of UA planetary science. "Space at the Top" will commemorate the major breakthroughs in space exploration that UA scientists have made over the last 50 years.

The nation's premier space artist, Robert McCall, will be honored with an exhibition of his works at The University of Arizona Museum of Art opening March 6. McCall serves as a member of the College of Science Astronomy Board.

The College of Fine Arts is planning a tribute to Mars through the arts, to be performed in Centennial Hall the last week in April. Dance, theater and music that speak to man's drive for exploration and discovery will be presented in a concert setting.

Apollo astronaut Frank Borman will be a keynote speaker at the UA's 2008 Spring Commencement on May 17, just 10 days before landing.

Other activities are being planned for June 2008, while science operations are taking place in Tucson.

The UA is the first public university to lead a mission to Mars. It centers on the search for habitable zones in the water ice of the northern polar region.

The Phoenix mission is led by Peter Smith of the UA, with project management at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, Calif., and development partnership at Lockheed Martin, in Denver. International contributions are provided by the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; the Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

posted 10-06-2007 10:43 AM               

The nation's premier space artist, Robert McCall, will be honored with an exhibition of his works at The University of Arizona Museum of Art opening March 6.

More than 200 works by space artist Robert McCall have landed a new home at the University of Arizona Museum of Art in Tucson.

McCall, 87, of Paradise Valley, donated the original pieces valued between $2.5.million and $3 million. The collection will be the lead gift for a new visual-arts archive.

posted 03-06-2008 12:41 AM               

Artist Robert McCall Captures Thrill of Space Exploration in UAMA Exhibit

The University of Arizona Museum of Art presents "Robert McCall: Imagination Unbound," an exhibition of paintings, drawings and prints by the noted artist and illustrator. The exhibition, opening tomorrow, coincides with the UA-led Phoenix Mars Mission, and will be on view when the lander reaches Mars on May 25.

UAMA will host a talk by the artist at 4:30 p.m. March 6, followed by an opening reception from 5-6:30 pm. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.

For more than 60 years, McCall has chronicled the history of aviation, science and space flight and shared his vision through museums, magazines, motion pictures and books. His 35-year relationship with NASA has given Americans a view of its presence in space in ways never before imagined.

While the UA makes history as its Phoenix Mars Lander speeds toward its landing on the Red Planet, McCall's art asks people to consider their destiny in space through his observations and projections of the past, present and future.

McCall's collection of works includes illustrations of America's finest moments in space technology - from the inaugural manned space flight to the first steps taken on the moon. His visionary artwork invokes the thrilling sense of man's ability to reach frontiers beyond the imagination, for McCall does not merely depict space, but rather man in space.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1919, McCall has always been enthralled with space and exploration.

This initiated an intrigue with science and technology and, later, a career in depicting America's feats in the U.S. space program.

In addition to being a visual historian for NASA, McCall has served as a conceptual artist for the entertainment industry. McCall was the art director on Disney's science fiction adventure "The Black Hole" as well as "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." One of his most well-known commercial pieces is his painting for the poster art for the classic motion picture "2001: A Space Odyssey."

A number of his murals are on display at Disney's EPCOT Center in Florida. His work has also been displayed at NASA's Johnson Space Center, the Pentagon and numerous museums and galleries around the world.

More than 10 million people a year admire his massive six-story-high mural at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. He also has created stamps for the U.S. Postal Service that commemorate the American space program.

In 2007, McCall announced that he was donating more than 200 original pieces to UAMA.

The collection, which includes personal archives and notes, has an estimated value of $2.5 million to $3 million, according to McCall. The work is the lead gift to establish the Archive of Visual Arts, or AVA, at the UAMA.

The AVA will collect artists' papers and materials - including diaries, correspondence, financial documents and personal items - to support the study of creativity and to facilitate research in numerous disciplines.

McCall is a longtime supporter of the UA's efforts in space exploration, serving on the University's astronomy board. McCall pieces have been on display at various UA locations for years, including the Large Binocular Telescope on Mt. Graham in southeastern Arizona and Steward Observatory on the UA's Tucson campus.