ARTWORK ON THE MOON
Oceana Rain Stuart Lunar and deep space Legacy
Oceana Rain Stuart’s twenty-two bronze sculptures and her portrait with Woman from the Moon have been archived on the lunar surface through the Lunar Codex and LifeShip initiatives. Her book Enigma (published by Snap Collective) is also scheduled to be included in an upcoming Lunar Codex mission. These inclusions were made by invitation, based on artistic merit and cultural significance, and were preserved using nanofiche technology.
LUNAR CODEX MISSIONS
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Codex Nova (LC3)
Launched February 15, 2024
Landed February 22, 2024 Lunar South Pole, aboard Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander Odysseus (IM-1) via SpaceX Falcon 9
Included Stuart’s bronze sculpture Reminiscence
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Codex Serenity (LC4)
Landed March 2, 2025
Mare Crisium, aboard Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander
Included additional works by Stuart
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Codex Polaris (LC6)
Scheduled launch window: December 4, 2025 to March 4, 2026
Targeted landing: Nobile Crater, Lunar South Pole region
Will include Stuart’s book Enigma and nanofiche images of her bronze sculptures
LIFESHIP MISSIONS
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Pyramid Capsule on the Moon
Landed March 2, 2025
Delivered aboard Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander (shared vehicle with Codex Serenity)
Included twenty-three digital works by Stuart, plus a portrait of the artist with her sculpture Woman from the Moon
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LifeShip Deep Space Mission
Scheduled for 2026
Will carry Stuart’s digitized artwork and DNA aboard AstroForge’s Vestri spacecraft on a deep space mission, including a flyby of a near-Earth asteroid
Stuart is among the first female artists in history to have artwork archived on the lunar surface. The Moon landing sites are recognized as Heritage Sites under the Artemis Accords.
“When I was notified that my sculptures were selected to go to the moon, I felt incredibly grateful and honored. To know that my artwork will reside in a permanent art collection of the first female artists on the Moon is exciting. Lunar Landers have previously been sent to the Moon with art time-capsules of famous male artists, but this launch is the first time for female artists, and this is one of her reasons why this mission is historical. My art practice is based on my interpretation of the human condition and the fragility of human life. My hope is that in years to come this time capsule will be rediscovered by visitors to the landing site and will serve as a relic of the past identifying aspects of life on Earth as seen through the eyes of artists in a beautiful effort of merging art with science. I hope this mission inspires humanity to follow dreams and passions.” said Stuart.
LIFESHIP
LifeShip is Earth's genetic record on the Moon- a DNA biobank consisting of several missions to the Moon and future missions venturing into the stars. Stuart's contributions as a LifeShip artist include twenty-three images of her work, where she is one of three artists within the permanent collection. The first mission including Stuart's work is in 2024, and multiple future voyages thereafter.
(LifeShip is unrelated to the Lunar Codex)
Missions including Stuart's work:
- Launched January 15, 2025 to Lunar Southern Hemisphere, landed in Mare Crisium on the Moon Mar 2, 2025
- Launching to near-Earth object rendezvous & to deep space NET Dec 2025