On View At London’s Science Museum: The First Art Ever Created In Outer Space

Alexei Leonov's Over the Black Sea Painting — Alexei Leonov, Over the Black Sea, 1973, C. The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics

I’m going to assume that like myself, everyone is absolutely fascinated with all things outer space – from planets and stars to aliens and black holes. Mind-blowing telescope photographs taken from lightyears away are testaments to the naturally occurring artistic beauty that occurs within the galaxy, but what about art that was literally created by humans in space?

The Science Museum in London is holding the first ever exhibition that contains artwork that was created by astronauts in space. Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age consists of 150 artifacts that explore interstellar activity and Russian space travel.

Highlights include the small doodle by Alexei Leonov which is literally the first ever drawing in space (that we know of) as well as a beautiful self portrait Over the Black Sea (above). The exhibit also includes the notebook of Rocket Scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Album of Cosmic Journeys, which contains illustrations about his ideas on astronautic theory.

Alexei Leonov's first drawing in outer space at London's Science Museum — First drawing in space and the Taktika pencils used by Alexei Leonov on board Voskhod 2 spacecraft, Museum of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre

A page from Konstantin Tsiolkovsky's Album of Cosmic Journeys at London's Science Museum — A page from Konstantin Tsiolkovsky’s Album of Cosmic Journeys 1932 c. The Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, State Museum and Exhibition Center ROSIZO

Picture of Chief Designer Sergei Korolev at London's Science Museum — Images of Chief Designer Sergei Korolev

Visitors at London's Science Museum at the Cosmonaut exhibition looking at Vostok 6 — Science Museum: Visitors with Vostok 6 at the Cosmonauts exhibition

Also on view are extremely rare space vessels like the Vostok 6 (the capsule flown by Valentina Tereshkova, the first ever woman in space), Voskhod (the capsule used on the first mission to carry multiple crew members), as well as tech used for pioneering space dogs.

From memorabilia to personal accounts, this exhibit allows viewers to get about as close as they ever will to experiencing what it is like to live outside of planet earth. Click here for more information on visiting the exhibit.