NASA unveils epic star-filled 60th anniversary logo
NASA's past, present and future are all on symbolic display in a heroic logo designed to celebrate its 60th birthday in 2018.
NASA's 60th birthday is coming up later this year.
Stars! Spaceships! Earth! You might look at NASA's newly revealed 60th anniversary logo and think the agency is actually hyping up a sci-fi blockbuster movie rather than a milestone in its history.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed NASA into existence on July 29, 1958, but the space agency marks it birthday as Oct. 1, when it officially opened.
NASA graphic artist Matthew Skeins created the eye-catching logo featuring a towering "60" above NASA's name.
The United States sparkles beneath a glowing horizon and a field of stars stretches out across the background. Two stylized spaceships zoom around the lettering, giving it a hint of retro sci-fi feel.
A NASA release on Wednesday ascribes a lot of meaning to the different elements of the logo. The spaceship paths form another "6," marking the decades since NASA opened. The red path ends with a depiction of NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew vehicle, which could one day take humans back to the moon and even further to Mars.
"A crescent moon, a ringed planet and a field of stars amid a nebula of light blue represent NASA's scientific underpinnings, particularly the enduring quest for answers to age-old questions about the workings and evolution of our planet, our solar system and the universe," says NASA.
NASA's 60 years of history rivals the story of any sci-fi franchise. This logo is a fitting tribute to the space agency's ongoing journey.
