This is the first NFT minted by Milky Way mosaic creator, astrophotographer, and artist JiiPee Metsävainio.
It is a tribute to the recently departed astronaut Michael Collins and the Apollo 11 crew. The Moon’s image is made entirely from the transcript of the communications between the Apollo 11 flight crew and Mission Control.
Upon purchase, the full resolution 33Kx33K pixels file will be sent to the new owner.
The auction winner will also receive a special one-of signed and numbered 3x3 ft. museum quality print of this artwork with the winner's name written in JiiPee's own hand. The print is directly and permanently bonded to a sheet of acrylic. It is mounted to high exhibition standards and without borders to remove the need for a traditional picture frame. The aluminum subframe on the back enables hanging. Acrylic prints will not bend or warp. Colors will not fade over time.
A few days before his passing Michael posted the following praising words with a link to JiiPee's masterpiece of the Milky Way mosaic on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AstroMCollins/status/1384194949009211393?s=20
"One of J-P’s most prolific pieces, Voices of Apollo 11, is a tribute to Michael Collins and the Apollo 11 crew who completed the first Moon landing in 1969. 'Voices of Apollo 11' will be auctioned on the SuperRare NFT marketplace to celebrate the 52-year anniversary of the historic landing on the Moon.” — Forbes, Jul 7, 2021.
Because Michael Collins was the director of educational STEM projects for the Air & Space Museum a large part of the funds from the sale of this NFT will be donated to help fund the Virtual Moon (https://VirtualMoon.space) project creating spaceflight-focused multi-user virtual reality experiences for STEM-enthused kids. This will provide educational institutions worldwide multi-user access to —among other Moon-related VR experiences— the virtual 'Tranquility Base' Apollo 11 landing site.
The new owner of ‘Voices of Apollo 11’ will be invited to virtually inaugurate, together with JiiPee, the multi-user version of the Apollo 11 landing site VR experience of the Virtual Moon project.
For more information and the story of the creation of this NFT, please visit http://JiiPee.art/
