NASA

Astronaut Luca Parmitano

Ellen DeGeneressnapped the most famous selfie at this year's Academy Awards, but you have to admit, the one pictured above, taken by astronaut Luca Parmitano outside the International Space Station, is remarkable in its own right.

This image is being used on posters to promote a new "Space and Media" program series at the 33rd Annual International Space Development Conference, set for May 14-18 at the Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles. Featuring a keynote from legendary Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the event is presented by the non-profit National Space Society and is open to the public.

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This year theNSS decided to honor Hollywoods role in influencing the publics perception of space exploration by creating this sub-conference, producer and entrepreneur David Knight, who is chairing the Space and Media track, told The Hollywood Reporter.

He sees these industries growing closer than ever before, in large part because of advances in technology. The continual progression of technology has really conspired to boost the publics confidence in the possibility of man going into space and even populating another planet. [Driving innovation is] real entrepreneurship that has come to the space industry, which we havent seen since frankly the early days of aviation.

Knight noted that this is being led by SpaceX(and Tesla) founder Elon Musk, who is scheduled to attend the conference to receive its Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award, named after the noted science fiction writer and created to honor those using science to turn ideas into reality. Incidentally, Musk is also said to have been the inspiration for Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Iron Man.

[Musk] has now stated that his real goal in starting SpaceX is because he wants to set foot on Mars and he wants to see us colonize Mars, Knight said, also pointing to the work of Richard Branson, who is leading Virgin Galactic.

Knight pointed out that concurrently, Hollywood is making this more accessible for the public to imagine because computing technology is allowing filmmakers to create very real depictions of what it might be like to go to to space, ranging from orbiting the earth in the Space Shuttle, a la Gravity, or through highly futuristic experiences, a la Star Trek.

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Space Society to Salute Hollywood at Confab; Shares Gravity-Defying Selfie (Photo)