Kepler's "Exoplanet Travel Bureau" Beckons Us To Vacation Among The Stars

A New Life Awaits You in The Off-World Colonies! Or at least, that's what these posters would lead you to believe. Nasa's been going through something of a boon lately, what with the announcement that the number of discovered exoplanets orbiting the habitable zone of neighboring stars now number in the thousands! That means there are just over 1,000 possible Earths out there...if we could only reach them.

To commerate the occasion, a group of artists at the Kepler astronomical labortory have released three stunning vintage-styled travel posters inspired by the "Visit America" Tourist campaign. Just looking at these makes me want to hop a ride on an orbital elevator and take a connecting flight from Olympus Mons straight on for the stars. Check out the rest of the posters after the break! 

ANOMALY is a Stirring Sci-Fi Re-imagining of Christian Nativity

Anomaly is the latest stunning collaboration between Directors Salomon Ligthelm & Dan DiFelice. Set amidst the starstruck euphoria and espionage-soaked paranoia of the 1960's, Anomaly draws from the same creative wellspring as the works of Steven Spielberg and Terrence Malick.

Oliver Grier, a young astronaut on a mission to space; experiences the heartache and regret of a broken relationship. The film follows Oliver and his fiancé Haylee Lawson's journey, as they navigate love and disillusionment.  During Oliver's mission, a long awaited astronomical event begins to take place - an event, predicted decades prior by scientist Noel Fitz, an elderly man whose theories have subsequently been disregarded due to an unstable mental condition.

Anomaly has just pole-vaulted itself near the top of some of my favorite shorts this year. Definitely one of the most beautifully shot films I've seen this year (That CIA-redacted title sequence à la Gareth Edwards' Godzilla sold me immediately).

The film hasn't been out for more than a day and it's already managed to garner effusive praise (rightly so) and provoke lively debate, picking apart the film's cosmically-drenched symbolism. Is the Bayt Lahm comet the returning star of Bethlehem? Is Haylee's child the second coming? Visually extraordinary, thematically provocative, and deftly written and directed; Anomaly could not have been released on a more timely date.

'Wanderers' Is A Gorgeous Trip Through The Human Journey Into Space

Optimism for space exploration is in vogue again, and I couldn't be happier for it. From Christopher Nolan's blockbuster Interstellar to Tomek Bagiński's magnificent promotional short film Ambition, dozens of prominent film-makers and independent artists remain stubbornly entranced by the magnetic potential and majesty of outer-space.

Wanderers echoes these sentiments, transporting viewers on a captivating 4-minute tour throughout the hypothetical future of space colonization, all the while narrated by an inspiring spoken meditation on the human instinct to explore courtesy of the late-astrophysicist Carl Sagan. Check out the director's website and stunningly beautiful image gallery here.

The Expedition

Louie Zong's latest one-minute animation is a whimsical take on mankind's quest to answer the most important, age-old questions of space. Only y'know, told from the perspective of a mouse.

The short, however short, is beautifully colored and impressively scored. Zong is definitely an animator to watch out for. Check out more of his work at his tumblr and DevArt page.

"No Man's Sky" Is Procedurally Generated Space Beauty

If you were to ask my what I thought Hello Games (the folks behind the Joe Danger series) next project would be, a procedurally generated space exploration game would be my last guess. While the majority of the VGX was a cringe-fest(see Exhibit A), No Man's Sky was by far the highlight of the show. Featuring a procedurally generated universe, players are given the ability to seamlessly transition between planets.

Seriously though, did you see them shoot through the center of that meteor?

Not much has been announced for the overall gameplay, but it's safe to say it involves both space-shooty and land-shooty parts. It's safe to be skeptical with independent procedurally generated games, but it's hard not to be at least a little excited with the above trailer.