Adsum Phase 4 - Planar version
Launch date: February 15, 2024
Landed: February 22, 2024
Kac’s Adsum (Planar) is an original ink on paper drawing that has been scanned, miniaturized, and engraved on a disk that reached the Moon’s surface in February 2024 mounted on a lander. It was launched on February 15, 2024, and it landed on the Moon a week later, on February 22. The landing site is Malapert A, a crater near the south pole. The original drawing measures 12 x 16.5 inches (29.7 x 42 cm).
Mounted on the Nova-C lander, Galactic Legacy Labs’ nanofiche disk includes the planar version of Adsum. The disk is bolted onto the lander in such a way that it may be removed in the future using standard EVA tools. The size of the payload is 11.8 x 11.8 cm (4.6 x 4.6 inches).
Frontal view of Galactic Legacy Labs’ nanofiche disk. The planar version of Adsum is contained in one of the squares.
The Nova-C lunar lander on display at Intuitive Machines on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023, in Houston, before being shipped to Florida for a launch to the moon. Galactic Legacy Labs’ nanofiche disk, which includes the planar version of Adsum, can be seen under a clear protective film on the lower right corner of the lander (below the rectangular yellow insulation film).
Previsualization of Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander on the Moon, showing the nanofiche disk with the planar version of Adsum.
Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander tipped over on the surface of the moon. Image credit: Intuitive Machines.
Malapert A, a crater near the south pole
Nova-C landed on the Moon at 80.13°S and 1.44°E, less than 1.5 km of the targeted Malapert A landing site, as confirmed by images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (seen above). Image credit: SpaceQ/NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from launch pad LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center with the Intuitive Machines' Nova-C moon lander mission, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1:05 a.m. EST, Thursday, February 15, 2024. Attached to the lander is a nickel disk that includes Eduardo Kac’s Adsum (Planar).
Image sources: Kac Studio, Intuitive Machines, Galactic Legacy Labs, SpaceX, 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)