Emily and Alexa chat with NASA Historian Dr. Lois Rosson about the history of illustration in space exploration, how the NASA Art Program came to be, and the dark story behind the rocket emoji. 🚀

Dr. Lois Rosson is a historian of science and technology based in Los Angeles, where she currently works as a field historian in the NASA History Office. At NASA, Lois just completed a history of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA, and is currently working on a history of exoplanet research at the agency.

Her current book project traces the impact of Los Angeles's art and special effects industry on the look of the space environment in planetary science and in popular culture. She has held the Guggenheim Pre-Doctoral Fellowship at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and the Octavia E. Butler Fellowship at the Huntington Library. Her work has been supported by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Berggruen Institute, and the American Philosophical Society.

Please see the Art Astra website (artastra.space) for this episode's transcript and show notes.

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Music credit: "Space" by Music_Unlimited