National Space Society Space Settlement Art Contest Winners Announced

The National Space Society's art contest has announced its winning entries to illustrate the NSS 2009 Space Settlement Calendar. You can find view all entries to this contest online at http://www.nss.org/settlement/calendar/gallery.htm.


The Grand Prize winner is Raymond Cassel from Parker, Colorado, with his striking image of a Martian greenhouse digging out from a sandstorm, "After the Storm." Raymond will have his artwork featured on the calendar cover and as one of the monthly images.

There were also four First Prize winners in the categories of Best Lunar Settlement, Best Mars Settlement, Best Asteroid Settlement, and Best Orbital Settlement. Jonathan Chapin from Jupiter, Florida won First Prize for Best Lunar Settlement with "The Lunar Greenhouse." Timothy Hodge from Rancho Cucamonga, California won for Best Mars Settlement with "Martian Evening." Goetz Scheuermann from Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany won for Best Orbital Settlement with "O'Neill Style Cylinder Colony." And Bryan Versteeg from Calgary, Alberta, Canada won for Best Asteroid Settlement with "Asteroid Mining for Station Creation."
The remaining seven winning entries that will be featured in the calendar include "In Jupiter's Realm" by Raymond Cassel, "Mars 3009," "Prospectors," and "Luna" by Joe Vinton, "Space Art Exhibition on Mars" by Richard Bizley, "Moonbase One" by Alex Aurichio, and "Lover's Lookout" by Phil Batchelor.

The Grand Prize winner will receive $200 cash; three graphics packages from DAZ Software (Carrara 6, Hexagon 2.1, and Bryce 6.1, retail values totaling $500); signed copies of 50 Years in Space (2006) by David Hardy and Sir Patrick Moore as well as Space Art: How to Draw and Paint Planets, Moons, and Landscapes of Alien Worlds (2007) by Michael Carroll; Starry Night Pro Plus 6.0 - the world's most realistic astronomy software ($250 value); the two-volume book Astronautics or a choice of any one-volume space book from Apogee Books; complimentary admission to the 2008 International Space Development Conference in Washington, DC. The Grand Prize winner also receives one-year complimentary memberships in the International Association of Astronomical Artists and the National Space Society, including a subscription to Ad Astra magazine, and 5 complimentary copies of the calendar.

In addition to being published in the calendar, each of the four First Prizes winners will receive $100 cash; a Carrara 6 graphics software from DAZ Software (retail value $250); the artist's choice of any one-volume space book from Apogee Books; one-year complimentary memberships in the International Association of Astronomical Artists and the National Space Society, including a subscription to Ad Astra magazine; and 2 complimentary copies of the calendar. In addition, one random First Prize Winner will receive a copy of the Starry Night Complete Space & Astronomy Pack desktop planetarium software ($50 value).

Each of the additional winning images will appear in the calendar and the artists will receive a copy of the Project Constellation Pocket Space Guide from Apogee Books; a Bryce 6.1 software package from DAZ Software (retail value $100); a 1 year complimentary membership in the National Space Society, which includes a subscription to Ad Astra magazine; and a complimentary copy of the calendar.

The calendars are scheduled to be published and available for retail purchase by the end of May 2008. Further details will be posted on www.nss.org.

The contest judges and the National Space Society would like to congratulate the winners and thank all of the participants who submitted art for this contest. The society looks forward to creating future opportunities for artists to further the cause of space settlement.
About the National Space Societyhe National Space Society (NSS) is an independent, grassroots organization dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization. Founded in 1974, NSS is widely acknowledged as the preeminent citizen's voice on space. NSS counts thousands of members and more than 50 chapters in the United States and around the world. The society also publishes Ad Astra magazine, an award-winning periodical chronicling the most important developments in space.

For more information about NSS, visit www.nss.org.