This afternoon we unveiled a new work of art in our lobby here at Guanajuato - The Majesty of Heracles by renowned painter Cedric Swinton.  Mr. Swinton was on hand for the unveiling so we were allowed a brief interview.

GAIAnet: Mr. Swinton, your painting is magnificent.  What was your inspiration?

SWINTON: Well, it’s about space, isn’t it?  The finite versus the infinite.  We ourselves are finite in nature and yet we strive for the infinite.  The Jupiter’s Ghost mission is an amazing feat and to think that we as a species may actually be able to finally make contact with beings from another world…

GAIAnet: Yes, it is exciting.  Everyone here today feels a sense of that majesty in your artwork.

SWINTON: Thank you so much.  I think the Heracles is aptly named.  It represents our history and our future.

GAIAnet:  Now that you see it on display are you happy with it?

SWINTON:  Of course there are things I would change.  I think the walls of your lobby will need to be painted a new color to truly set off the tones and vibrations of my masterwork, but there will be time for that.

GAIAnet:  What advice would you give to all the aspiring artists out there?

SWINTON:  Give up!  (laughs)  No, no, really.  I’m kidding!  Just do your art.  Make it happen.

Swinton’s new piece will be on display in the lobby of the Kershner building here at our Guanajuato campus.  If you’re planning a vacation trip to the area, please stop in.  We offer tours of the facility that leave our lobby every hour on the hour.  See you soon!

In association with GAIA, Ryan Hartnett the 3rd recently interviewed the crew of the Heracles live just before their exit of the solar system!  Check it out!

The Heracles is halfway through it’s exit of the solar system!  Director Brighton and the GAIA New Media Team (NMT) released this video today to inform the world of the Heracles’ progress.

GAIA director, William Brighton, held a press conference today to reveal the details of the GAIA mission dubbed Jupiter’s Ghost.  We’ll be sure to have more information over the coming days.  Stay tuned!

There must be something important in GAIA’s near future! We’ve learned that GAIA director, William Brighton, recently turned down a speaking engagement with the New London Science Fellowship for next week. Either the director has some urgent GAIA business to attend to or a holiday in cooler climes is just too much for him to resist this time of year. He was recently sighted boarding a private jet at the GAIA airfield. We’ll keep our ears to the ground!

The neutral buoyancy tanks were in full use today as some of our astronauts tried on their space legs.  The buoyance of the water is a perfect way to simulate EVA (extra-vehicular activity).  Here in our picture you see astronauts Macon Cook and Mark Dickinson in our largest tank with a mockup of an as yet unnamed space vehicle.  This tank holds 22.7 million gallons of water along with whatever gear needs to be mounted for training sessions.  It looks like these two astronauts are passing with flying colors!

Talk about the perfect holiday gift!  The new Hewitt Hyper-Plasma Engine prototype that Dr. Hewitt and her team have been working so diligently on for the last four years has had it’s very first successful test run!

The new test engine was designed by Dr. Elizabeth Hewitt and built by her team at Guanajuato.  Based on existing Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rockets (VASIMR), Hewitt’s design increases the efficiency and maximum output of existing designs ten-fold.  Utilizing an off-the-shelf fusion power source, the Hewitt Hyper-Plasma Engine (HHPE) ionizes hydrogen into plasma then supercharges the resulting plasma into hyper-plasma which is directed out of each engine’s magnetic nozzle and harnessed as thrust.  Superconducting magnets powered by the fusion reactor excite and contain the plasma and hyper-plasma.  Hewitt’s design is expected to have a long list of applications in space travel but may not become an important source of power on Earth since it must operate within a vacuum.

Cheers to the team for reaching this important milestone!

The GAIA team got into the holiday spirit this year in spite of the relentless heat here in Guanajuato, NM.  The AC was cranked and the team members broke out their jackets and gloves.  A wonderful time was had by all.  Happy holidays!