After many delays, the 125 sculptures of Jeff Koons were finally sent to the moon in the early hours of this morning from Cape Canaveral at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The initiative, known as the "Moon Phases Project," was first announced in 2022 and revolves around a collection of NFTs. The original plan was for the physical works to land on the moon in July of that year, with the NFTs available through Pace Verso, Pace Gallery's NFT platform.
After many ups and downs, Koons' "Moons" sculptures were finally scheduled to be launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on a lunar spacecraft on February 14.
The ship will be carrying Koons' 125 one-inch miniature sculptures, each representing a phase of the Moon and associated with people from diverse fields and periods who have had a significant impact on human life on Earth, such as Mozart, Galileo, Cleopatra and Leonardo. da Vinci, to name a few," according to a release from the project. "These Moons will be the first authorized works of art placed on the moon."
However, the launch was delayed after scientists noticed a problem with the rocket's methane propellant, according to a report in the New York Times.
The Falcon 9 rocket is manufactured by SpaceX, a company founded by Elon Musk in 2002. The physical sculptures were aboard the rocket in a lunar spacecraft known as Nova C (Odysseus). The spacecraft was developed by Intuitive Machines, a private American aerospace company, and is designed to separate from the Falcon 9 rocket after liftoff.
On February 13, Koons posted about the launch on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), including images of the moon craft and its moon sculptures being placed on the Falcon 9 rocket.
If all goes according to plan, the lunar craft carrying Koons' artwork and NASA equipment will reach the moon in nine days.
"I grew up listening to President Kennedy talk about going to the moon," Koons told the New York Times before the rocket took off. "It gave our society a vision and a drive where we could believe in ourselves and accomplish things."
The other two components of the Phases of the Moon Project – corresponding NFTs showing the lunar landing installation and a larger version of each lunar glass sculpture named after historical figures – will remain available to collectors on Planet Earth.
Source: ArtNews