Grissom and Young, by Norman Rockwell, 1965, Oil on canvas. Courtesy Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Licensed by Norman Rockwell Licensing, Niles, IL.

A beautifully-detailed work by Norman Rockwell, a snapshot of the crew preparations before the first Gemini mission. Rockwell is a master of capturing the “moment”, in my opinion – those little spaces of time that happen in the course of greater things. He paints people being… people. Even astronauts are people.

Astronauts John Young and Gus Grissom are suited for the first flight of the Gemini program in March 1965. NASA loaned Norman Rockwell a Gemini spacesuit in order to make this painting as accurate as possible.

This work is on display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Mall building from May 28 to Oct. 9, 2011, as part of the NASA | Art: 50 Years of Exploration exhibition.

Disclaimer: I know absolutely NOTHING about Black Widow, her deadly origin, or anything about her plotline. In fact, pretty much, I know nothing about comics. I learned recently that Iron Man is a Marvel Comic, after seeing the movie, but that’s about the extent of it. Well, I also know that pretty much all superheros are comics. And Batman. And X-Men are comics. Should I keep digging?

Anyway, I think her spacesuit, as illustrated above, is really really cool. And this piece is just GORGEOUS. Love the subtle colors and all the grays.