It’s been a big year for the 35th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. The IDW series will be hitting the milestone issue #100 just next month and the new female member Jennika made a splash in the comics just a few months prior. The TMNT have already conquered the world, so the logical next step is space. This month, original Kevin Eastman art featuring the green machine’s arch foe The Shredder made its way to the International Space Station. Details below:
We are beyond proud to announce this out of this world AWESOMENESS.
On November 2, 2019 original artwork illustrated by Kevin Eastman depicting the TMNT character Shredder was launched into space to reside on the International Space Station, thanks to Mountain View California aerospace company, Made In Space.
The Braskem Recycler is designed to turn plastic waste and 3D printed objects into the type of feedstock that serves as the raw material for the Made in Space Additive Manufacturing Facility, already on the space station. A shredder is one of the features of this facility and now a Kevin Eastman space flight approved, sharpie-on-metal illustration of The Shredder has been attached to the structure of these devices.
Two of the illustrations will remain on the International Space Station and one will be returned to Kevin next year.
A video detailing the equipment, launch and implementation can be viewed here.
Kevin was first approached by Michael Snyder, Made in Space chief engineer in early 2018. Snyder, who described himself as a huge fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, wrote that from the start of development of this system he had been referring to the equipment subsystem as the Oroku Saki. Saki who is better known to fans globally as The Shredder, is the primary antagonist of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Kevin Eastman quote: “First and foremost, I could not be prouder of the Made in Space Team, their creativity and ingenuity are truly inspiring to us all. To have one of my co-creations a small part of this project is an honour that leaves me humbled in every way.”
