NASA's sun and space division (yes, that's a thing) has unveiled an out-of-this-world photography montage in celebration of Pride Month. Combining to form a Progress Pride flag, each stripe of the design features a different image taken by the team at NASA – from the algae-filled lakes of California to the swirling storms of Jupiter.
As June rolls around we're undoubtedly going to be seeing a lot of Pride logos but it's rare to see one that honours the celebration of LGBTQIA+ through the lens of natural beauty. Not only is the piece a stunning homage to Pride Month but an ingenious way to revive the beautiful imagery captured by NASA over the years.
How do you draw a pride flag? 🤔 With SCIENCE!This flag is a composite of NASA imagery of phenomena from Earth and far, far beyond it. Details below ⬇️ Credit: Rachel Lense pic.twitter.com/Cpth3jWyO4June 13, 2024
Compiled by science communicator and artist Rachel Lense, this version of the Progress Pride flag features a diverse selection of snaps from NASA's archive. In a post on Bluesky, Rachel explains the origins behind each image.
"A pride flag with every color band represented by a NASA image. White is Earth clouds, pink is aurora, blue is the Sun in a specific wavelength, brown is Jupiter clouds, black is the Hubble deep field, red is the top of sprites, orange is a Mars crater, yellow is the surface of Io, green is a lake with algae, blue is Neptune, and purple is the Crab Nebula in a specific wavelength."
Users on Bluesky were quick to share their praises at Rachel's image, with one user commenting "This is absolutely awesome!!!! All pride flags should have a little bit of space in them, I love this concept." Another chimed in "This is utterly beautiful. I’m a hobby astrophotographer and I can’t find adequate words to describe the beauty of this," while one user playfully commented, "You’re just proving that pride is universe(al)."
For more Pride-inspired design, check out this modern LGBTQIA+ branding for Switchboard – a support line celebrating a vibrant heritage. If you're after more NASA news, take a look at the stunning eclipse posters that celebrate the adorable optical illusion that it spotted in space.
