Miniature Swedish house blast-off: Art mission reaches the Moon
A rocket launched from Florida with a model of a red Swedish house will soon reach the Moon. This unusual mission is the realisation of the idea by artist Mikael Genberg. What is known about it?
On Wednesday morning, 15th January, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched from Florida, carrying a miniature red Swedish house aboard one of the rovers. This object, being the artistic vision of Mikael Genberg, is part of a larger exploratory mission to the Moon.
Red house on the Moon
The idea of sending a characteristic Swedish house to the Moon was conceived by Genberg back in 1999. Initially, a child-sized house was intended to be sent, but the project was reduced to a miniature due to high costs. The house, named Moonhouse, was made from aluminium. It was painted with a special space-certified paint. It measures approximately 13 cm in length, 8 cm in width, and 10 cm in height.
The house, which will soon land on the Moon, symbolises, as Genberg stated, "the eternal struggle of life to survive and develop" and encourages reflection on human existence. One hundred private investors from various fields, such as the art and space industries, financed the project, which cost around 576 million kronor (approximately 43 million pounds).
The project's realisation encountered many difficulties, not only financial ones. A major challenge was creating a model of the house that could withstand the shocks and vibrations accompanying the rocket launch. The rocket launch became a reason for celebration in the city of Västerås, where the artist is from.
The Moon is not the first "uncommon" place where the Moonhouse has reached. It has already been placed on trees, underwater, taken to the Great Wall of China, and even on the International Space Station as a companion to the first Swedish astronaut, Christer Fuglesang.
