deaths
June 11, 1986
Chesley Bonestell, American painter and illustrator (born 1888)

Chesley Bonestell
Chesley Knight Bonestell Jr. was an American painter, designer, and illustrator, best known for his realistic-looking paintings of space exploration, including future spacecraft and scenes set on moons and planets in the Solar System. His work helped inspire the American space program and appeared in popular magazines and books from the 1940s into the 1970s. He is considered one of the founders of "space art" for scientific illustration and his style has been influential in science fiction art, illustration, and cinema.