The next photo of the Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair you see may just be one that’s taken in outer space.
That’s because the beauty giant is sending its most popular serum to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission? A four-and-and-half hour photoshoot – yes, conducted by NASA astronauts.
According to the press release by Estée Lauder, it is the first beauty brand to launch into space with NASA.
For this unique space mission, Estée Lauder is paying NASA about US$128,000 (~S$175,272), in order to send the iconic serum to space.
A spacecraft will launch from Virginia (in the USA) “no earlier than October 1”, according to NASA and Estée Lauder, and it will be delivering commercial supplies, including radish seeds, a new toilet, and 10 bottles of the Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum. It will take the spacecraft approximately four days to reach the ISS.
Filming and photography of the serum will be conducted by NASA astronauts in the ISS’s Cupola. This is an observatory that has seven windows, which provide panoramic views of space.
Close-up view of Cupola windows (with earth visible) as documented by the Expedition 36 crew. (Photographer: Karen Nyberg)
According to the agreement between the two companies, the subject of the photoshoot will solely be the serums; astronauts will not be appearing in the images.
After the items is returned to Earth in spring next year, Estée Lauder will auction one bottle and donating its proceeds to charity.
NASA announced in 2019 its plans to develop a “low-Earth orbit economy”, which promotes business opportunities at the ISS. NASA said that it will dedicate approximately 5% of the productive time of its crew to commercial activities, which will work out to around 90 hours of work time per year by the astronauts.
