NASA has agreed with a startup to build a vault that will act as an extraterrestrial exhibition hall.
If last year it seemed surreal to you to see Jeff Bezos traveling into space in something like a space penis and his ridiculous competition with Richard Branson to see who of the two leaves the stratosphere first, get used to it, because space tourism is just beginning. Bezos and Branson are the main competitors in the matter, with Virgin Galactic (of Branson) designing planes for space tourism and Blue Origin (of Bezos) preparing the first hotel in space; but they are not the only entrepreneurs interested in capitalizing on tourism in space. The next stop in the matter is the construction of the first art gallery and exhibition hall of the International Space Station, where cosmotourists will be able to spend their extraterrestrial recreation hours, buy exclusive items and take home souvenirs from another planet. The vault / showroom is already planned to roll out in 2022, and of course it’s no stranger to NFTs.
In addition to launching a new rover on Mars, practicing surreal simulations on Martian life in Texas and preparing a trip to the moons of Jupiter, among the 2022 NASA missions is an agreement with the startup Uplift Aerospace for it to build the first vault in the history of the International Space Station, intended for exhibitions. It is not the first time that the startup will cross the most exclusive art market with the aerospace industry, since a year ago they became famous for making an artist’s paintings fly on the tip of a space rocket, but with this project they intend to take it to another level. “We want the vault to be a place where we highlight the value of humanity and the Earth to what we create,” said Uplift Aerospace CEO Josh Hanes in an interview with collectSPACE. Maybe taking these creations into space is not the most subtle way to highlight their importance, but that’s the way it is.
The vault will be called “Constellation VaultTM” and is intended to house works of art, rare coins, unique jewelry, luxury items, precious gems … everything. According to Hanes, it is about creating “an exhibition space where the best brands, artists and creators can send items designed for space, items that are unique or that are among the most precious on Earth, to be exhibited on the space station. ”.
Some of these objects will later go to museums on Earth, but the room is mainly expected to be a sales exhibition. It will also include goods designed for space travelers, astronauts and private collectors; as well as souvenirs and consumer objects that only those who make the round trip can enjoy.
You may be wondering where and how NFTs come in here. Well, at Uplift Aerospace they are convinced that NFTs and cryptocurrencies will play a key role in the aerospace industry in the long term and want to participate in what they consider “a good infrastructure system for trade between space and Earth. “.
Uplift NFTs are designed like a membership card, with which to enter the “Space +” community to access “real life space experiences” (whatever that is). Space + members will have access To various gifts, they can send an item of their own to the space station, win a suborbital space flight, or purchase a physical item that has flown through space. Just like your Amusement Park membership card. Ultimately, Uplift Aerospace intends that the Space + community launches a robotic rover to the moon.
At this point there is only one problem: how do you get all these unique and delicately handled items into space? If we put our feet on the ground, it is not an easy task and the CEO of Uplift Aerospace himself has acknowledged that they have not yet resolved the logistics. Little thing. “The idea is that we will be able to display the items while they are on the space station,” Hanes told collectSPACE, “but we are still developing the exact process of how it will be done.”
What they do plan is that the first launch will be made in the second or third quarter of this year.
