With narration by Carl Sagan, borrowed from an audio recording of his 1994 book Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space, this is Wanderers, a bold science fiction short by digital artist and animator Erik Wernquist.
Inspired by Sagan, and other sci-fi writers and artists like Kim Stanley Robinson, Arthur C. Clarke, and Chesley Bonestell, Wernquist created these monumental scenes of imagination with an eye toward visual accuracy. From his site:
The film is a vision of our humanity’s future expansion into the Solar System. Although admittedly speculative, the visuals in the film are all based on scientific ideas and concepts of what our future in space might look like, if it ever happens. All the locations depicted in the film are digital recreations of actual places in the Solar System, built from real photos and map data where available. For those interested in learning more of the places featured in the film, I recommend turning to the gallery section.
We recommend it, too. There you can compare Wernquist’s imagined landscapes to those real locations that inspired him.
Related videos: more Carl Sagan, and more space inspiration with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson: The Most Astounding Fact, and Dr. Michelle Thaller: We Are Dead Stars.
via Bad Astronomy.
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