Adsum Phase 2 - Flight-Ready version
2019
In preparation for its flight to the International Space Station, Kac reduced the original cube at a 10:1 scale and laser-engraved the miniaturized optical cube at the limit of legibility. The Flight-Ready Adsum measures 0.4 x 04 x 0.4 in (1x1x1 cm) and weights 0.08 ounces (2.5 grams). The work flew to the ISS on February 19, 2022, on an Antares 230+ rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia. The Flight-Ready Adsum has orbited the Earth continuously aboard the ISS and returned to Earth on January 11, 2023, aboard a SpaceX Dragon 2 spacecraft, which splashed down off the coast of Florida.
Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022 — Eduardo Kac waiting for the Antares230+ rocket (in the background, to the left of the water tower) to liftoff from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia. Photo: Alan Perry.
Northrop Grumman's Antares230+ rocket flew to the ISS on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia. Photo: Eduardo Kac.
Eduardo Kac with Northrop Grumman's Antares230+ rocket (to the left, in the sky). Photo: Alan Perry.
Eduardo Kac holds Adsum against the sky before the Northrop Grumman's Antares230+ rocket flew to the ISS on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, from NASA's Spaceport’s at Wallops Island, Virginia. Photo: Alan Perry.
Eduardo Kac, Space Poetry 2 , 12-color embroidered patch, 2022, 4.5" x 4" (11.4 x 10 cm). Edition of 100.
The Space Poetry 2 patch, released in a limited edition of 100, commemorates the launch into orbit of Kac's Adsum. Space Poetry 2 is a spectacular, multi-color embroidered patch with three-dimensional layering and a silver thread merrow border. The thin blue line represents our atmosphere, separating the Earth from the cosmos.
To acquire the patch, please contact Alternate Projects.
Adsum returned to Earth aboard a SpaceX Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft (aka SpX-26 or CRS-26) and splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast on January 11, 2023. Credit: NASA.
Read an interview with Eduardo Kac about Adsum (JPHS 6.1, June 2022)
Read an article about Adsum and Kac's space art (Artpress, September 2022)
Adsum was conceived and produced during a Maison Malina Residency in Paris, curated by Annick Bureaud and organized by Leonardo/Olats with the support of Fondation Daniel & Nina Carasso. Adsum flew to the ISS with the support of the Stichting Moon Gallery Foundation.