SpaceArc has been in a geostationary Earth orbit for ten years with its 47,000 passengers onboard the DirecTV 2 satellite. Launched from Cape Canaveral in August of 1994 SpaceArc is the world’s first time capsule, an archive of artistic expressions, in space.

Partnered with NASA, Educational Affairs Division, Lockheed Martin, DirecTV and 12 other international organizations, SpaceArc is now ready to fulfill its primary mission. “It is tempting to think in terms of completing this mission but in fact we are in many ways at the beginning “, offers Founder Jim Ferren. Participants will recall that the prime motivator for amassing the creative works from individuals from over 50 countries was and remains the creation of an accessible archive for the purpose of cultural sharing.

Ten years ago before the advent of the internet the London Museum of Science with underwriting from Imperial Chemical Industries created and hosted an exhibit commemorating  SpaceArc with a computer based archive. This enabled thousands of school children and general visitors over a two year period to access the 47,000 personal pages onboard SpaceArc. The SpaceArc exhibit is remembered as one of the finest and most innovative hosted by the L.M.S.        

Thanks to generous underwriting SpaceArc, headquartered in Rochester NY  is proud  to announce that the first one hundred SpaceArc forms will be accessible starting on September 21st  on our website for visitors to  share in the thoughts, feelings and insights of those who participated. Included in this first collection will be a variety of creative works such as drawings, poems, life stories and essays on social issues from all ages. We will be entering many more over the following weeks.  Visitors will also have the opportunity to see the creative contributions of  high profile SpaceArc participants including Arthur C. Clark, author of 2001, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger, Astronaut Deke Slayton, England ’s shuttle Astronaut Helen Sharman, and Dr. Donald Johanson, discoverer of Lucy, the world’s oldest fossilized human skeletal remains.

SpaceArc is inviting visitors to participate online in the next archive in space program, “SpaceArc, Voice of a Planet.” There is no cost to participate and for those who choose to, their work can be made accessible to visitors on the SpaceArc website. 

See over 100 of the first submitted to SpaceArc: The Archives of Humanity

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