In his book “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed”, Jared Diamond, a geologist, examines a number of ancient societies that have collapsed including, among others, Easter Island, the Mayan culture and the Norse settlements in Greenland. The keyword is: “choose”. The Space Option concept implies that a choice related to space exists for [...]
Our civilization is at its peak – we have the means today to implement The Space Option but not yet the commitment. However, if our species does not soon embrace this unique opportunity with sufficient commitment, it may miss its one and only chance to do so. In July, 2013 the International Academy of Astronautics [...]
The main point of this article is about the use of space technologies either for peace or for war and how that choice may influence the implementation of The Space Option. Simply stated, humanity must soon make a choice between “more space” or “more war”. At a very early age I became aware of the [...]
If one believes that other technological civilizations have appeared throughout the Cosmos, then one can speculate they must have faced a similar choice that confronts humanity at this particular moment in its history. Did these distant civilizations decide to use their technology and knowledge to extend their civilization beyond their home planet in order to [...]
Arthur R. Woods Here on Earth, human civilization has reached such a point in its development where it has evolved the means to leave its home planet and to begin operating in the environment beyond the atmosphere. Optimistically, this development would enable humanity to utilize this technological capability to harness the infinite [...]
Developing solar power satellites (SPS) as a major energy source for Earth will involve multiple orbital demonstrators. Satellites in low Earth orbits (LEO) will have far lower costs than demonstrators in geostationary orbit (GEO) or High Elliptical Orbits (HEO), but they have the major disadvantage that they can deliver power to a receiving [...]
An Astronautical Perspective on the Arts and Space Arthur Woods - Latest update: April 2026 Most people are probably not aware that the idea of space exploration began in the mind of the artist or that artists have been intimately involved in space exploration from the beginning. Yet long before the first rocket penetrated the atmosphere, [...]
Arthur Woods In the 1970’s my art had become inspired by scientific information about the nature of the universe which was reflected in my primary mode of expression, which at this time was mostly painting. In 1975, my wife and I moved to Zurich which exposed me to a thriving contemporary art scene. Four years [...]
On May 22, 1993, a sculpture called the Cosmic Dancer by the Swiss-American artist Arthur Woods was launched to the Russian Mir space station on a Progress rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Cosmic Dancer – a painted geometric form made out of welded aluminum tubing measuring approximately 35 x 35 x 40 centimeters and weighing [...]
The Orbiting Unification Ring Satellite and the OUR-Space Peace Sculpture projects were the beginnings of the OURS Foundation’s “private space program” which began to unfold and develop in other and sometimes parallel directions. Below is the history and details of the spaceflight of the Ars Ad Astra: The 1st Art Exhibition in Earth Orbit that [...]
