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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on March 16, 2010.
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FLOWN I.D. (DONOR LEVEL): Everyone who contributes to this project through kickstarter will have a name (theirs or one they choose) printed onto the mylar insulation of the ICARUS payload shell, which will be flown during the mission. The nanosatellite should attain an altitude of around 100,000 feet and enter the troposphere before returning to earth with its trove of collected data.
Pledge $3 or more
STAMPS (DONOR LEVEL): BPL will send you two (2) $0.44 Custom Made U.S. postage stamps, good for first class mail or repairing ripped memos. These things are emblazoned with BPL's logo and one of our catchy mottoes such as "Failure Is An Option", or "It's Not Rocket Science".
Pledge $11 or more
MISSION REPORTS (DONOR LEVEL): Choose one of BPL's Official Mission Reports, compendia of Office Memos, Production and Testing Digests, or Press Kits (see our website). Almost no expense has been spared or used in the preparation of these compelling documents. Too numerous to list here, suffice to say that each one is a work of art, composed, designed, bound, stamped, and otherwise processed in the bureaucratic labyrinth at BPL.
Pledge $18 or more
BPL -003 MISSION PATCH (DONOR LEVEL): The official BPL-003 Moranic Mission To Montana emblem. Features 'arrowhead' motif with cute pest rodent handling collection equipment, in true space mission design tradition. About 3" high. ** We will be producing a special run of these during the show in Philadelphia at the Esther Klein Art Gallery/Breadboard through Nextfab Studios on their new embroidery machine. ** Come see how the sausage gets made!
Pledge $19 or more
BPL 'RECYCLED' COFFEE MUGS (DONOR LEVEL): Our logo cleverly sandblasted over, and indeed, into, some other corporation's promotional ceramic coffee cup. We are considering calling this gesture 'pre-purposing', as we are doing the same thing with the same object, only more so. Your mug will feature our now familiar logo and some other random thrift-store flotsam. These are hand made by BPL's single employee on a borrowed piece of equipment (thanks, Evan!)
Pledge $20 or more
BPL STOCK CERTIFICATE (DONOR LEVEL): What's a company without stock? And what's a shareholder with a valueless piece of paper? Don't answer that- Unencumbered by the legal strictures of incorporation or adherence to any laws of governance, save for its own, BPL shares represent an unvarnished view of the health of the company. This beautifully designed and produced certificate will bear your name, that of a BPL Executive, Serial Number, and the official BPL Corporate Seal, for authenticity.
Pledge $65 or more
STEREO VIEWERS AND SET OF 5 PHOTOGRAMS (SPONSOR LEVEL): All proper space missions generate stereo photographs so that mission specialists can analyze terrain and samples in three dimensions. You get our custom made, (just for Kickstarter) stereo viewer, conceived, molded, cast, and finished by BPL's Co-Optics Expert, a set of five custom BPL Stereogram Cards with beautiful images printed thereupon, and verbose illustrated instruction sheet. The viewer even works with your iphone!
Pledge $200 or more
MUNIN DESKTOP MODEL (UNDERWRITER LEVEL): This is a hand crafted 1/12 scale model of the Munin Spacecraft in its present configuration (for BPL-003, Moranic Mission To Montana). It comes complete with thematic base and wordy 'information' card. It is diligently produced in our Model Department by our Master Miniaturist from urethane resin and metal.
Pledge $250 or more
BPL SCOUT PAINTING (UNDERWRITER LEVEL): Scouting missions in 2009 yielded gouache paintings by BPL's Rendition Department Chief. They depict potential landing zones and revisit locations in the Yellowstone region so memorably depicted by Thomas Moran. By the way, our multitalented Rendition Department Chief even has a degree in Painting, so there should be no question as to the quality of these unique items. Each painting is small, usually a few inches high and fewer than 12 wide, on archival paper, and signed, dated, and jotted with Moranic notation such as map coordinates, temperature, artist mood, etc. They are all from actual location visits in Montana.
Pledge $300 or more
PROJECT PARTICIPATION, NASCAR STYLE (UNDERWRITER LEVEL): You Know You Want it!- Your logo on a space ship! At this level, BPL wants you to understand that, (a), we see you as a real fan or something, and (b), you have a lot more discretionary - type dough than we do. Therefore, we want to congratulate you by giving you any one of the above items you want (from either Donor or Sponsor categories), and the chance to put your own name, logo, whatever 2-dimensional image you choose, on the deck of the Munin Spacecraft. We will work with you to create the image, as the graphic has to meet 'aerospace standards' and be within a four inch square envelope. We will give you a copy of the graphic, and only five of these will be produced: One for you, one flight unit, one backup, and two test units. This image will appear in BPL documents and Mission photos, not to mention a prominent place in your domicile, and on a real spaceship!
Pledge $500 or more
PROJECT PARTNER / ROADIE (UNDERWRITER LEVEL): In addition to the Participation offer above (which includes your choice of any one item from either Donor or Sponsor categories, as well as the placement of your graphic on the Munin spacecraft), you will be invited to attend BPL mission activities as a special guest. These events will include casting aluminum at our Provisional Foundry, either at our Brooklyn Facility or our New Hampshire Node; attendance of the opening night party in Philadelphia at the Esther Klein Art Gallery; attendance of a Lecture or two, also in Philadelphia, with party afterward, at which the BPL Chemist will present you with a delicious pie baked from scratch in our Test Kitchen; and best of all, an invitation to come to Livingston, Montana and either help with the launch of the mission, or go fishing. Or both. BPL will make sure you have a memorable experience, and hopefully a positive one too! At this level, you will also be invited to have a sneak peek at the next Phase of development and offered a special discount for the next generation of BPL Aerospacey hardware, software, and mediumware.
Project By
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I am an artist living in Brooklyn, New York. I have a degree in Painting from Pratt Institute. For the past 10 years or so, I've been making increasingly elaborate "space missions", based initially on NASA projects, which had always looked an awful lot like Art Projects to me. I began by attempting to copy something NASA did, knowing I would fail, but would in the process acquire lots of knowledge and new skills. I always make everything myself, doing a lot of research, and using whatever means I can muster, even to the point of making up tools and processes that might be better purchased elsewhere. That methodology started from necessity and has become one of the central themes of my work. I created the fake aerospace corporation, Brower Propulsion Laboratory, to act as a platform for this increasingly diverse range of production. The more various my output becomes, the more departments are added to the company, so my interests are never curtailed by my previous activities. Interestingly, this DIY trajectory has caused me to develop skills that have gotten me my livelihood, such as it is. I have found my wage earning activity is more dependent on my artwork than the other way around.
How exciting - still 11 hours to go but well over the goal.
Hey thanks Gray- there's room in the lander for its own jukebox- if the right songs are loaded, we can probably attract Photogenic Fauna And Irritated Residents In Environmental Settings (PFAIRIES), for twitting. And congratulations to you on your Academic Prediction Estimate.
Congratulations! Can't wait to find out what's in Montana-- hope there's a jukebox. The Phoenix lander had a twitter account, just throwing down the gauntlet... http://twitter.com/MARSPHOENIX