top of page
NASA

status:

Vertical Horizons

Ellery Kurtz

1986

4 Oil paintings on canvas in GAS container.

A set of four original oil paintings that were designed to test organic art materials for degradation during space flight.

Vertical Horizons

Aside from survival, people living in space will have many needs, among them, the aesthetic. Artist Ellery Kurtz and environmental psychologist Howard Wishnow founded Vertical Horizons, a company dedicated to the enhancement of life in space.

Through NASA's Get Away Special (GAS) program an experiment was designed to test organic art materials such as oil-based paints, linen canvas, primers and bonding materials for degradation during space flight. The canister designated G-481 was the 46th such canister flown aboard a Space Shuttle. The Space Shuttle Columbia orbited the Earth 98 times during it's mission duration time of 6 days, 2 hours, 3 minutes and 51 seconds.

The Space Shuttle Columbia was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, FL on January 12, 1986 at 6:55:00 a.m. EST and landed at the Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. on January 18, 1986 at 5:58:51 a.m. PST.

Vertical Horizons evaluated the materials both pre-flight and post-flight to learn how the space environment had affected them. The experiment formed a foundation for the future study of methods for transporting visual art objects in space.

Four original oil paintings by the artist were loaded into the GAS canister. These paintings are the first original oil paintings created by a human to orbit the Earth adding a significant page to the history of both art and space exploration.

Ellery Kurtz

Ellery Kurtz

USA

Collection:

This work is not part of a collection

-

an image of the collection to which this artwork belongs

Full Record Details

Vertical Horizons

Launch date​:

Launch  mission:

Launch provider:

Launch location:

Launching state:

Launch vehicle COSPAR id:

12 Jan 1986

Space Shuttle Columbia - STS-61-C

NASA

Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA

USA

1986-003A

Destination:

Host:

Host COSPAR id:

LEO

Space Shuttle Columbia

1986-003A

Return date:

Return vehicle:

Landing Location:

Return vehicle COSPAR id:

Current status:

18 January 1965

Space Shuttle Columbia

Edwards Air Force Base, CA, USA

1986-003A

Returned

Project partners:

NASA

Title:

Artist:

Date:

Medium:

Dimensions:

Genre:

IAAA art style:

Collection:

COSPAR id:

Vertical Horizons

Ellery Kurtz

1986

4 Oil paintings on canvas in GAS container.

Painting

cosmic expressionism

none

Are you the copyright holder of this artwork and do not wish to be included in this archive, then let us know by mail and we will remove your record.
 

Copyright Disclaimer: Exception to copyright for libraries, museums and archives. Copies for the preservation of cultural and scientific heritage: libraries, archives or museums can restore works or make digital copies of works in order to preserve and conserve them for future generations. More info here. This database and its content are protected. More info here. No copyright infringement intended.

Astronautical Art

Archiving Art in Outer Space

​

Copyright 2025 Astronautical Art Initiative vzw. All rights reserved.

bottom of page