Last Friday, Robert McCall, one of the most recognized painters of space exploration, died of a heart attack in Scottsdale Arizona at the age of 90. For cinema buffs, he may best be remembered as the poster artist for Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, as well as for working on The Black Hole and Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

However, for those of us with more than a passing interest in science fiction and fact, he was much more than that. His work foresaw credible visions of the future, and shaped much of how we viewed the frontiers of space, inspiring a generation of writers, artists, and filmmakers to think beyond the stars.

Described by author Isaac Asimov as the "nearest thing to an artist in residence from outer space," McCall's paintings first caught the attention of the public at large during the 1960s, when they graced the pages of LIFE for a feature the magazine ran on the future of space travel.

During the span of his career, NASA commissioned so many works from McCall that his paintings have become synonymous with the American space program. In the ultimate example of life imitating art, McCall also created stamps and insignia patches for the space program. The Apollo 15 astronauts flew his "Decade of Achievement" two-stamp pane to the Moon, and the last men to walk on the lunar surface did so while wearing an Apollo 17 mission patch designed by McCall.

"It is something I continue to covet," shared McCall in a 2006 interview with collectSPACE.com. "It was wonderful to really see this emblem that I designed on the Moon, in real time from Mission Control."

He will be missed.

To read more about his life's work, click here.