- Department of Archaeology
Flinders University
GPO Box 2100
Adelaide SA 5001
Australia
- Anthropology, Archaeology, Material Culture Studies, Cultural Heritage, Space Sciences, Cold War and Culture, and 22 moreContemporary Archaeology, Space Archaeology, Tranquility Base, V2 rocket, Woomera, Communication, Prehistoric Archaeology, Archaeological Method & Theory, Historical Archaeology, Indigenous Studies, History, Military History, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Social Archaeology, History of Archaeology, Archaeology of the Contemporary Past, Space Exploration, Science and Technology Studies, Computer Networks, Databases, and Softwareedit
- Alice Gorman is a pioneer in the emerging field of space archaeology and heritage. She specialises in orbital debris, tracking stations and terrestrial launch sites.edit
Space heritage relates to the human exploration of space in the 20th and 21st centuries. It consists of objects and places on the surface of the Earth, in Earth orbit, on other planetary bodies and throughout the solar system. It... more
Space heritage relates to the human exploration of space in the 20th and 21st centuries. It consists of objects and places on the surface of the Earth, in Earth orbit, on other planetary bodies and throughout the solar system. It represents a distinct social and technological phase in human evolution. By far the largest off-earth component of this heritage resides in Earth orbit. Since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, Earth orbit has become filled with debris – over 23 000 pieces 10 cm and larger, and millions of fragments below this size. The proliferation of space junk has the potential to affect satellite services that the people of Earth rely on to deliver telecommunications, Earth observation, navigation, timing and more. It is widely recognised that some form of active debris removal is needed to secure access to space for the future. However, some of this debris has historic and heritage value. Numerous defunct satellites in Earth orbit have cultural significance for populations of Earth for their historic, aesthetic, scientific and social values as defined by the internationally recognised guidelines of the Burra Charter (2013). Such satellites include Vanguard 1, the oldest human object in space, Telstar 1, the first active telecommunications satellite, and Syncom 3, the first geostationary satellite. For these satellites, protection in situ is an appropriate management strategy if the collision risk is low. A process to protect culturally significant space objects could include an assessment of the nature of the resource, formal and informal heritage lists, an International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) technical committee, and an environmental impact framework. This paper elaborates on mechanisms and concepts necessary for ensuring that some culturally significant spacecraft survive into the future. While heritage is often perceived as a constraint to development, I argues that it can be regarded as an opportunity in Earth orbit with which to test the principles needed in space environmental management and to promote inclusiveness as recommended by the Vienna Declaration (1999). It’s no longer enough to treat space junk as isolated individual units. Viewed as part of an archaeological ‘assemblage’ or cultural ‘spacescape’ which spans variable gravity contexts, culturally significant space artefacts enable end-users on Earth to feel connected to space as the common heritage of humanity.
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Flinders University archaeology students write the biographies of objects obtained from thrift shops, from pianola rolls to Atari video games.
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As an archaeologist working in the remote areas around Woomera and the Nullarbor Plain, my understanding of South Australia was first informed by rocks and soil. This was a landscape of fossils and trace fossils – the preserved... more
As an archaeologist working in the remote areas around Woomera and the Nullarbor Plain, my understanding of South Australia was first informed by rocks and soil. This was a landscape of fossils and trace fossils – the preserved impressions left by the passage of a living body through sediment – jostling for attention. On this land surface, SA presents an arc extending from the “death mask” fossils of early multicellular life to the human leap into the solar system. Sure, you might say, this could be said of other locations on Earth. But here it seems laid bare for any who can read the distinctive pattern of signs.
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In recent years, the striking gender imbalance in the physical sciences has been a topic for much debate. National bodies and professional societies in the astronomical and space sciences are now taking active steps to understand and... more
In recent years, the striking gender imbalance in the physical sciences has been a topic for much debate. National bodies and professional societies in the astronomical and space sciences are now taking active steps to understand and address this imbalance. In order to begin this process in the Australian Space Research community, we must first understand the current state of play. In this work, we therefore present a short 'snapshot' of the current gender balance in our community, as observed at the 15 th Australian Space Research Conference. We find that, at this year's conference, male attendees outnumbered female attendees by a ratio of 3:1 (24% female). This gender balance was repeated in the distribution of conference talks and plenary presentations (25 and 22% female, respectively). Of the thirteen posters presented at the conference, twelve were presented by men (92%), a pattern repeated in the awards for the best student presentations (seven male recipients vs one female). The program and organising committees for the meeting fairly represented the gender balance of the conference attendees (28% and 30% female, respectively). These figures provide a baseline for monitoring future progress in increasing the participation of women in the field. They also suggest that the real barrier is not speaking, but in enabling conference attendance and retaining female scientists through their careers – in other words, addressing and repairing the 'leaky pipeline'.
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This paper investigates whether the term ‘culture’ can be applied to the six Apollo lunar landing sites, and how the remains at these sites can be understood as the actions of bodies at a particular moment in space and time.
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'Disposable' looks at 18 commonplace objects, untangling their history and significance in the modern world. Beautifully designed by Lynley Wallis, and with a foreword by contemporary archaeology guru Paul Graves-Brown, the book features... more
'Disposable' looks at 18 commonplace objects, untangling their history and significance in the modern world. Beautifully designed by Lynley Wallis, and with a foreword by contemporary archaeology guru Paul Graves-Brown, the book features original images taken by the contributing authors, plus an extensive bibliography for each one. Here you will find soy sauce fish, balloons, plastic cutlery, paper doilies, and many more contemporary artefacts with surprising stories.
The book is based on projects undertaken by students in ARCH3209 Modern Material Culture, taught by Alice Gorman at Flinders University.
The book is based on projects undertaken by students in ARCH3209 Modern Material Culture, taught by Alice Gorman at Flinders University.
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Of over 15,000 officially named places in the solar system (excluding Earth), approximately 0.3% are Australian Aboriginal words. They are found on three planets, Venus, Mars, and Pluto (although note that Pluto names are unofficial at... more
Of over 15,000 officially named places in the solar system (excluding Earth), approximately 0.3% are Australian Aboriginal words. They are found on three planets, Venus, Mars, and Pluto (although note that Pluto names are unofficial at this stage), four moons of Saturn, one moon of Uranus, and four asteroids. Most of the names are from Aboriginal ancestral beings related to the naming theme of the planet. Some places, particularly on Mars and the asteroids, are named after similar features or relevant towns in Australia, which happen to have Aboriginal names. While this research is very preliminary, the principal question raised is what the names connote in their new context. Across Australia, there are 'Dreaming' landscapes created by the same beings that are also featured in the Planetary Gazetteer, for example, the Wawilak (Wawalag) sisters on Venus. They are also the focus of major ceremonial cycles practiced by contemporary communities. T he use of some words is subject to restrictions based on gender, age, grade, or moiety, while others refer to parts of the landscape for which there is specific knowledge, or custodianship. These are not forgotten gods and goddesses, like many of the classical names so common in the solar system, but very potent symbols of continuing Aboriginal cultural practices against the formidable array of colonialist alienation technologies.
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This chapter discusses orbital debris from a cultural heritage perspective. It examines the cultural material related to space exploration with a specific focus on “space junk” and the increasing amount of material remains including... more
This chapter discusses orbital debris from a cultural heritage perspective. It examines the cultural material related to space exploration with a specific focus on “space junk” and the increasing amount of material remains including thousands of satellites, rocket bodies, parts and piece of spacefaring objects. The author argues that the materials and design reflect social and political interactions with space as well as humanity’s adaptation to a new environment. The study of space heritage can add to the history of space exploration and contemporary life on Earth.
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Forum, edited by Matt Edgeworth.
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Since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, interplanetary space has become filled with human material culture. A ‘spacescape’ now exists including terrestrial space sites like rocket ranges, satellites and space junk in Earth orbit and... more
Since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, interplanetary space has become filled with human material culture. A ‘spacescape’ now exists including terrestrial space sites like rocket ranges, satellites and space junk in Earth orbit and planetary landing sites. The significance of this material is usually understood within a ‘Space Race’ framework that emphasizes high technology and the Cold War rivalry between the USA and the USSR. However, appropriate management of the cultural heritage of space exploration requires a broader scope and this can be provided by a cultural landscape approach. The heritage significance of space exploration is explored through three cultural landscapes which illustrate complex and conflicting perspectives on space: Peenemünde in Germany, Woomera in South Australia and Tranquility Base on the Moon.
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More than 10 000 objects larger than 10 cm are currently in earth orbit. These objects include satellites, launch vehicle upper stages, mission-related debris and “space junk”. The amount of debris constitutes a threat for the successful... more
More than 10 000 objects larger than 10 cm are currently in earth orbit. These objects include satellites, launch vehicle upper stages, mission-related debris and “space junk”. The amount of debris constitutes a threat for the successful development and delivery of space services. In the near future, space agencies are considering the necessity of removing material from orbital space. In the longer term,m some orbital material may be both the subject of commercial salvage operations, and a destination for space tourists. Orbital objects and debris are the cultural heritage of the “Space Age” inaugurated by the launch of Sputnik I in 1957. Ever since, the formerly “empty” orbital space has become an organically evolving cultural landscape. This paper discusses the heritage value of orbital objects and space junk, and suggests avenues for managing the archaeological record of human endeavours beyond the atmosphere.
Keywords: orbital debris, cultural heritage, cultural landscape, Vanguard 1, FedSat, Syncom 3,
material culture
Keywords: orbital debris, cultural heritage, cultural landscape, Vanguard 1, FedSat, Syncom 3,
material culture
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In 1979, the US orbital space station Skylab made a spectacular re-entry that, like the de-orbiting of Mir in 2001, was widely anticipated across the world. As it disintegrated, debris from the spacecraft fell around the towns of... more
In 1979, the US orbital space station Skylab made a spectacular re-entry that, like the de-orbiting of Mir in 2001, was widely anticipated across the world. As it disintegrated, debris from the spacecraft fell around the towns of Esperance and Balladonia in Western Australia. The Shire of Esperance, tongue-in-cheek, fined the United States Government for littering. While in orbit, the space station was largely invisible. In its re-entry, however, the disembodied spacecraft became tangible, visible, and collectible, in the form of its widely scattered and charred remains. Anyone could own a piece of space if they wanted; the debris was both space junk and a precious artefact. Through these local and personal interventions after its decay, the social significance of Skylab came to outweigh its historic significance and it passed into popular consciousness as a rare Australian space icon. In this article I consider how the parts of Skylab became more than the sum of the whole.
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In recent years there has been greater examination and discussion of teaching and learning in archaeology, and exploration of how best to reconcile the sometimes competing requirements of students, industry, teachers and university... more
In recent years there has been greater examination and discussion of teaching and learning in archaeology, and exploration of how best to reconcile the sometimes competing
requirements of students, industry, teachers and university
administrators. A key response by the academy in Australia
has been the emergence of graduate level programmes.
Drawing on the experiences of staff, students and industry
partners of the Flinders University Archaeology and Cultural
Heritage Management graduate programmes, we reflect on
the opportunities such programmes afford to effect positive
change in the training of graduates, the challenges they pose
and the contrast they offer to the standard and long accepted
Honours degree. We demonstrate that carefully crafted
graduate level teaching programmes, with strong involvement
of industry stakeholders, offer practical solutions to the issue
of providing students with a well-rounded degree, whilst also
meeting the particular needs of the cultural heritage sector to
produce work-ready graduates.
requirements of students, industry, teachers and university
administrators. A key response by the academy in Australia
has been the emergence of graduate level programmes.
Drawing on the experiences of staff, students and industry
partners of the Flinders University Archaeology and Cultural
Heritage Management graduate programmes, we reflect on
the opportunities such programmes afford to effect positive
change in the training of graduates, the challenges they pose
and the contrast they offer to the standard and long accepted
Honours degree. We demonstrate that carefully crafted
graduate level teaching programmes, with strong involvement
of industry stakeholders, offer practical solutions to the issue
of providing students with a well-rounded degree, whilst also
meeting the particular needs of the cultural heritage sector to
produce work-ready graduates.
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Back in November, me and my intrepid group of graduate students paid a visit to the former Orroral Valley Tracking Station in the ACT.
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The Coorong and Lower Murray Lakes in South Australia have long been recognised under the Ramsar Convention for their natural heritage values. Less well known is the fact that this area also has high social and cultural values,... more
The Coorong and Lower Murray Lakes in South Australia have long been recognised under the Ramsar Convention for their natural heritage values. Less well known is the fact that this area also has high social and cultural values, encompassing the traditional lands and waters (ruwe) of the Ngarrindjeri Nation. This unique ecosystem is currently teetering on the verge of collapse, a situation arguably brought about by prolonged drought after decades of unsustainable management practices. While at the federal level there have been moves to better integrate typically disparate ‘cultural’ and ‘natural’ heritage management regimes — thereby supporting Indigenous groups in their attempts to gain a greater voice in how their traditional country is managed — the distance has not yet been bridged in the Coorong. Here, current management planning continues to emphasise natural heritage values, with limited practical integration of cultural values or Ngarrindjeri viewpoints. As the future of the Coorong and Lower Murray Lakes is being debated, we suggest decision makers would do well to look to the Ngarrindjeri for guidance on the integration of natural and cultural values in management regimes as a vital step towards securing the long-term ecological viability of this iconic part of Australia.
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Body modification takes many forms, such as painting, tattooing, scarifying, piercing, shaving, hair cutting, binding and mutilation. A survey of ethnographic, historical, and contemporary literature shows that there is virtually no... more
Body modification takes many forms, such as painting, tattooing, scarifying, piercing, shaving, hair cutting, binding and mutilation. A survey of ethnographic, historical, and contemporary literature shows that there is virtually no culture or people who did not practice at least one form of body modification. In this paper some of the reasons for doing so are explored, and the archaeological evidence for body modification in prehistory is examined. Unlike tool using, which chimpanzees and some birds engage in, modifying the body is a uniquely human activity that may have been one of the earliest forms of social or symbolic behaviour.
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The origins of modern human behaviour have been constructed by some archaeologists as a question of the origins of symbolism. In this thesis I argue that consciousness is embodied and that body modifications are a key element in... more
The origins of modern human behaviour have been constructed by some archaeologists as a question of the origins of symbolism. In this thesis I argue that consciousness is embodied and that body modifications are a key element in generating symbolic behaviour. I develop criteria by which body modification tools can be identified in the archaeological record thereby contributing evidence for the antiquity of modem human behaviour.
The possibility that body art preceded the first unequivocal archaeological evidence of symbolic behaviour has long been acknowledged but regarded as an intractable problem because of its archaeological invisibility. Archaeological evidence for body modifications shows that they were practiced from the Upper Palaeolithic, but the reliance on preservation of skeletal material and soft tissue, and the difficulty of interpreting ancient art, means that there are limitations to establishing its presence prior to this. The most abundant archaeological remains in the Palaeolithic are stone tools. I demonstrate that in more recent contexts stone tools are routinely used for head shaving, scarification, and surgery such as finger amputations and genital modifications. The presence of use-wear and human body residues on stone tool edges provides a means of detecting symbolic body practices that is not dependent on stylistic judgements of stone tool form, controversial "non-utilitarian" art objects, burials or changes in brain structure and size, none of which have satisfactorily proved that symbolic behaviour existed before 60 000 bp.
To test this I analyse a collection of flaked bottle glass razors used for shaving the head from the Andaman Islands. The results of this analysis are compared to a further series of glass and obsidian razors from Antigua, New Guinea, Mexico and Egypt, and experimental obsidian razors. I conclude that the combination of residues such as blood and hair, and wear traces that indicate a scraping/slicing motion, allow razor use to be identified on stone tools. This provides evidence with which to test for the presence of body modification in the archaeological record prior to 60 000 bp reflecting complex symbolic behaviour and hence an earlier genesis of language than is currently accepted.
The possibility that body art preceded the first unequivocal archaeological evidence of symbolic behaviour has long been acknowledged but regarded as an intractable problem because of its archaeological invisibility. Archaeological evidence for body modifications shows that they were practiced from the Upper Palaeolithic, but the reliance on preservation of skeletal material and soft tissue, and the difficulty of interpreting ancient art, means that there are limitations to establishing its presence prior to this. The most abundant archaeological remains in the Palaeolithic are stone tools. I demonstrate that in more recent contexts stone tools are routinely used for head shaving, scarification, and surgery such as finger amputations and genital modifications. The presence of use-wear and human body residues on stone tool edges provides a means of detecting symbolic body practices that is not dependent on stylistic judgements of stone tool form, controversial "non-utilitarian" art objects, burials or changes in brain structure and size, none of which have satisfactorily proved that symbolic behaviour existed before 60 000 bp.
To test this I analyse a collection of flaked bottle glass razors used for shaving the head from the Andaman Islands. The results of this analysis are compared to a further series of glass and obsidian razors from Antigua, New Guinea, Mexico and Egypt, and experimental obsidian razors. I conclude that the combination of residues such as blood and hair, and wear traces that indicate a scraping/slicing motion, allow razor use to be identified on stone tools. This provides evidence with which to test for the presence of body modification in the archaeological record prior to 60 000 bp reflecting complex symbolic behaviour and hence an earlier genesis of language than is currently accepted.
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Topics: SPACE Fifty years ago, on November 29 1967, Australia quietly became the third nation in space by launching a satellite from within its own territory. The conical satellite, perched on top of a rocket painted with a kangaroo, took... more
Topics: SPACE Fifty years ago, on November 29 1967, Australia quietly became the third nation in space by launching a satellite from within its own territory. The conical satellite, perched on top of a rocket painted with a kangaroo, took dreams of an Aussie space age into Earth orbit.
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Archaeological sites where humans have carried out scientific activities beyond the Earth are not as rare as you might think. The planets nearest us—the Moon, Mars, and Venus—are littered with landers, rovers, probes, and craters where... more
Archaeological sites where humans have carried out scientific activities beyond the Earth are not as rare as you might think. The planets nearest us—the Moon, Mars, and Venus—are littered with landers, rovers, probes, and craters where spacecraft have crashed on the surface. Further afield, spacecraft orbit the Sun, Saturn, and Jupiter. Others are roaming out at the edges: the Pioneers, Voyagers, and New Horizons. And in Earth orbit itself, there are millions of pieces of " space junk " , which far outnumber the active satellites providing us with telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation data, and timing signals. It's a rich archaeological record and we have only just begun to investigate what it can tell us about 20th and 21st century life on Earth. In 2016 an intriguing new site was created. Launched in 2004, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft was sent on a decade-long quest to rendezvous with Comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta was named after the one of the most renowned archaeological artefacts of all time, the Rosetta Stone, which provided the key to deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. ESA explained the metaphor thus: As the worthy successor of Champollion and Young, Rosetta will allow scientists to look back 4,600 million years to an epoch when no planets existed and only a vast swarm of asteroids and comets surrounded the Sun. This is a deep archaeology indeed.
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How should we understand the idea of the frontier in the contemporary world, with spacecraft sailing beyond the solar system and quantum computing taking us deeper into the heart of matter? Many view human evolution as a continual... more
How should we understand the idea of the frontier in the contemporary world, with spacecraft sailing beyond the solar system and quantum computing taking us deeper into the heart of matter?
Many view human evolution as a continual expansion into new territories, from out-of-Africa to the “high frontier” of space. Frontiers, then, are associated with exploration, conquest, and struggles against hostile nature.
They can be seen as a challenge to solve with technology, going hand-in-hand with human progress. But the concept also comes with a lot of baggage.
Many view human evolution as a continual expansion into new territories, from out-of-Africa to the “high frontier” of space. Frontiers, then, are associated with exploration, conquest, and struggles against hostile nature.
They can be seen as a challenge to solve with technology, going hand-in-hand with human progress. But the concept also comes with a lot of baggage.
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I began my Day of Archaeology preparing for a talk on space archaeology, for an audience of 70 schoolkids and their families. The talk featured some of my favourite objects and places in the solar system – the Venera landing sites on... more
I began my Day of Archaeology preparing for a talk on space archaeology, for an audience of 70 schoolkids and their families. The talk featured some of my favourite objects and places in the solar system – the Venera landing sites on Venus, Tranquility Base on the Moon, the Telstar 1 satellite in Earth orbit, and of course, Voyager 1 and 2 – the most far-flung outposts of human activity in the universe that we can still communicate with.
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As a child growing up on a farm, I was fascinated by the night sky. I could identify all the constellations, and I’d gaze up at them, trying to get my mind around interstellar distances.
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With interest in the prospect of mining the moon and asteroids gaining pace, it’s time to take a hard look at what’s really at stake.
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Recognise these planet names: Vulcan, Neptune, Pluto, Nemesis, Tyche and Planet X? They all have one thing in common: their existence was predicted to account for unexplained phenomena in our solar system. While the predictions of Neptune... more
Recognise these planet names: Vulcan, Neptune, Pluto, Nemesis, Tyche and Planet X? They all have one thing in common: their existence was predicted to account for unexplained phenomena in our solar system. While the predictions of Neptune and Pluto proved correct, Nemesis and Tyche probably don’t exist. Now we have another contender, Planet Nine – the existence of which astronomers predicted last month – but we may need to wait ten or more years for it to be confirmed. Compare this to Vulcan. While many claimed to have observed the predicted planet, it took 75 years and Einstein’s general theory of relativity to consign it to the dustbin of history.
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Our solar system’s shadowy ninth (dwarf) planet was the subject of furious speculation and a frantic search for almost a century before it was finally discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. And remarkably, Pluto’s reality was deduced using... more
Our solar system’s shadowy ninth (dwarf) planet was the subject of furious speculation and a frantic search for almost a century before it was finally discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. And remarkably, Pluto’s reality was deduced using a heady array of reasoning, observation and no small amount of imagination.
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Job Description: Senior Interplanetary Archaeologist, Space Heritage Unit, United Nations Committee for Space Environment Management (UNCSEM)
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The New Horizons spacecraft has begun sending back images of the much loved dwarf planet. As it gets closer, we will see features on Pluto’s surface for the first time. Craters, canyons, mountains will appear in New Horizons’ images. But... more
The New Horizons spacecraft has begun sending back images of the much loved dwarf planet. As it gets closer, we will see features on Pluto’s surface for the first time. Craters, canyons, mountains will appear in New Horizons’ images. But what shall we call them?
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Do you think a place on Pluto should be named after the sinister tentacle-faced monster Cthulhu from the novels of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft? Or a crater on Mercury after iconic opera singer Dame Nellie Melba?
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I think I’d want a combination of qualities in my ten books, while I’m on the desert island waiting for rescue. There’d be the ones that I could read over and over and just enjoy, to pass the time, and others that would inspire new... more
I think I’d want a combination of qualities in my ten books, while I’m on the desert island waiting for rescue. There’d be the ones that I could read over and over and just enjoy, to pass the time, and others that would inspire new thoughts, so that when I got off the island I would be bursting with things to research and write.
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It was an exciting year in space exploration, with mind-blowing triumphs and heart-breaking failures. On Earth, new rockets and spacecraft were tested by space agencies and commercial ventures.
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Colonel Chris Hadfield is one of the most famous astronauts on Earth. Through the creative use of social media, he’s made space exciting and accessible to new generations of enthusiasts, most notably through his performance of David... more
Colonel Chris Hadfield is one of the most famous astronauts on Earth. Through the creative use of social media, he’s made space exciting and accessible to new generations of enthusiasts, most notably through his performance of David Bowie’s Space Oddity while on board the International Space Station. In this interview, I ask Chris about human-machine relations, lessons for the Australian space program and his favourite bit of space junk.
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Sunday marks the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969, after multiple Apollo lunar missions unfolded through the 1960s in front of an awestruck global audience. But many wondered if the eternal mystique of the... more
Sunday marks the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969, after multiple Apollo lunar missions unfolded through the 1960s in front of an awestruck global audience. But many wondered if the eternal mystique of the moon could survive the onslaught of cold, hard science.
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Fun, quirky and informative, A Neutron Walks Into A Bar... is a collection of facts, definitions, explanations, biographies and jokes guaranteed to quench a thirst for knowledge, discovery and humour that's out of the ordinary.
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Could the Day of Archaeology have started in a more appropriate manner for a space archaeologist specialising in orbital debris? Last night, while I was on my way home from a conference dinner at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide,... more
Could the Day of Archaeology have started in a more appropriate manner for a space archaeologist specialising in orbital debris? Last night, while I was on my way home from a conference dinner at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide, observers in the eastern states of Australia were mesmerised by a flaming ball that streaked through the sky. Was it a meteor? Was it a piece of space junk? (To date, no-one has suggested it was a UFO).
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This weekend, the moon’s fortnightly rotation cycle turns China’s lunar rover Yutu (the Jade Rabbit) and its solar panels toward the sun once again … but whether the rover wakes up or not remains to be seen, as Yutu already announced its... more
This weekend, the moon’s fortnightly rotation cycle turns China’s lunar rover Yutu (the Jade Rabbit) and its solar panels toward the sun once again … but whether the rover wakes up or not remains to be seen, as Yutu already announced its impending death to Earth-based watchers with a series of first-person messages on January 25.
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With India and China planning lunar surface missions, privately-funded space entrepreneurs competing for the US$40 million Google Lunar X Prize and discussions around lunar mining intensifying, working out what to do with our moon’s... more
With India and China planning lunar surface missions, privately-funded space entrepreneurs competing for the US$40 million Google Lunar X Prize and discussions around lunar mining intensifying, working out what to do with our moon’s cultural heritage is becoming urgent.
In an article in the journal Science today, space lawyers Henry Hertzfeld and Scott Pace propose a multilateral agreement at the highest international level, initially between the US and Russia, but open to other moon-faring entities such as China, India and the European Space Agency (ESA).
In an article in the journal Science today, space lawyers Henry Hertzfeld and Scott Pace propose a multilateral agreement at the highest international level, initially between the US and Russia, but open to other moon-faring entities such as China, India and the European Space Agency (ESA).
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Now that the US government is back in business, all “non-essential” services will resume. For 15 days we went without NASA’s full operation, US Antarctic research and federally-funded clinical studies. Even this relatively short time... more
Now that the US government is back in business, all “non-essential” services will resume. For 15 days we went without NASA’s full operation, US Antarctic research and federally-funded clinical studies. Even this relatively short time frame will see a science fallout that could last for years.
During the past few weeks, many have made their thoughts on the shutdown of science known on Twitter. In the world of space science, there was distinct lack of news and mission updates from the network of telescopes, spacecraft and rovers around our solar system — no @NASA, @NASA_Hubble, @MarsCuriosity or @NASAVoyager… the list could continue for the hundreds of NASA twitter accounts.
Published in The Conversation, October 21 2013
During the past few weeks, many have made their thoughts on the shutdown of science known on Twitter. In the world of space science, there was distinct lack of news and mission updates from the network of telescopes, spacecraft and rovers around our solar system — no @NASA, @NASA_Hubble, @MarsCuriosity or @NASAVoyager… the list could continue for the hundreds of NASA twitter accounts.
Published in The Conversation, October 21 2013
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Earlier this year, NASA spacecraft Voyager 1 left our solar system after a 35-year journey, carrying with it a golden record containing sounds, images and music from Earth. Its sister craft, Voyager 2, carries an identical record. The... more
Earlier this year, NASA spacecraft Voyager 1 left our solar system after a 35-year journey, carrying with it a golden record containing sounds, images and music from Earth.
Its sister craft, Voyager 2, carries an identical record. The records were designed to encapsulate the aural heritage of Earth in 90 minutes - but some preliminary investigation, however, reveals that there a few inaccuracies in the official NASA documentation about the golden records.
Its sister craft, Voyager 2, carries an identical record. The records were designed to encapsulate the aural heritage of Earth in 90 minutes - but some preliminary investigation, however, reveals that there a few inaccuracies in the official NASA documentation about the golden records.
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As a child growing up on a wheat and sheep farm in southern New South Wales, I was obsessed with stars. The only other lights visible at night came from inside our own house. I’d go outside and look up at the Milky Way and wonder how the... more
As a child growing up on a wheat and sheep farm in southern New South Wales, I was obsessed with stars. The only other lights visible at night came from inside our own house. I’d go outside and look up at the Milky Way and wonder how the universe came to be. How to attain those other worlds? Why did we not have the technology to go and visit them? I longed desperately for the future.
The United Nations’ Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space is meeting in Vienna this week, and representatives of 74 countries will discuss, among other things, how to ensure space is maintained for peaceful purposes, and the... more
The United Nations’ Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space is meeting in Vienna this week, and representatives of 74 countries will discuss, among other things, how to ensure space is maintained for peaceful purposes, and the long-term sustainability of space activities.
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For many advocates of space exploration, the Solar System is the answer to human woes. As we exhaust our terrestrial resources, face overpopulation and stare down the barrel of rising sea levels, moving off-planet holds as many promises... more
For many advocates of space exploration, the Solar System is the answer to human woes. As we exhaust our terrestrial resources, face overpopulation and stare down the barrel of rising sea levels, moving off-planet holds as many promises as it does challenges.
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At 18.5 billion kilometres from Earth, the Voyager 1 space probe is the most distant human-made object ever to leave our planet. And now the spacecraft, which was launched in September 1977, has discovered a new region at the edge of... more
At 18.5 billion kilometres from Earth, the Voyager 1 space probe is the most distant human-made object ever to leave our planet.
And now the spacecraft, which was launched in September 1977, has discovered a new region at the edge of our solar system.
Voyager 1 is now entering what space scientists think is the final region of the “heliosphere” - the bubble of charged particles the sun blows around itself - before it reaches interstellar space.
And now the spacecraft, which was launched in September 1977, has discovered a new region at the edge of our solar system.
Voyager 1 is now entering what space scientists think is the final region of the “heliosphere” - the bubble of charged particles the sun blows around itself - before it reaches interstellar space.
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Interviewing a spacecraft isn’t something one does every day. It certainly wasn’t an option back in the late 1970s, when Voyager 1 and 2 set off on a mission like no other before or since: to visit some of the most mysterious planets in... more
Interviewing a spacecraft isn’t something one does every day. It certainly wasn’t an option back in the late 1970s, when Voyager 1 and 2 set off on a mission like no other before or since: to visit some of the most mysterious planets in the solar system, and then to continue out and on, into the galaxy. But just recently I was lucky enough to “interview” Voyager 2, via its Twitter account, on behalf of both spacecraft.
Last week the world stopped to watch as the black disc of Venus inched its way across the face of the sun. But beyond the transits that capture our attention roughly twice per century, Venus has always held a special place in the human... more
Last week the world stopped to watch as the black disc of Venus inched its way across the face of the sun. But beyond the transits that capture our attention roughly twice per century, Venus has always held a special place in the human imagination, not least because of its association with the arts of love.
A few weeks ago astronauts on the International Space Station hid in escape capsules following concerns a piece of space junk was going to collide with the station. The collision didn’t eventuate but the fact remains – space junk is a... more
A few weeks ago astronauts on the International Space Station hid in escape capsules following concerns a piece of space junk was going to collide with the station.
The collision didn’t eventuate but the fact remains – space junk is a very serious problem in (and outside) our space-reliant world.
The collision didn’t eventuate but the fact remains – space junk is a very serious problem in (and outside) our space-reliant world.
In the past six months, it seems something has fallen from the sky every second minute. In September, the UARS satellite re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, causing a media frenzy. In October, the German satellite Rosat re-entered, with... more
In the past six months, it seems something has fallen from the sky every second minute. In September, the UARS satellite re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, causing a media frenzy. In October, the German satellite Rosat re-entered, with much less fanfare. Before Christmas, there were reports of space junk falling near Esperance in Western Australia.
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Dr Alice Gorman and Associate Professor Justin Walsh will investigate human engagement within the International Space Station, to show how humans adapt to space technology and can be applied to improve the efficiency of long duration... more
Dr Alice Gorman and Associate Professor Justin Walsh will investigate human engagement within the International Space Station, to show how humans adapt to space technology and can be applied to improve the efficiency of long duration space missions. $244,400.
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According to NASA Administrator, Jim Bridenstine, the launch of manned Soyuz spacecraft will resume on schedule. The statement comes after last week’s Soyuz spacecraft launch failure. Radio Sputnik has discussed the prospects for... more
According to NASA Administrator, Jim Bridenstine, the launch of manned Soyuz spacecraft will resume on schedule. The statement comes after last week’s Soyuz spacecraft launch failure. Radio Sputnik has discussed the prospects for Russia-US space cooperation with Dr. Alice Gorman, an internationally recognized leader in the field of space archaeology and Senior Lecturer at Flinders University.
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Why some of the female trailblazers at Adelaide’s future technology festival are finding that gender still matters Us author and futurist Robert Tercek would prefer to have one geek girl for every nerd boy at the high-tech festival he... more
Why some of the female trailblazers at Adelaide’s future technology festival are finding that gender still matters
Us author and futurist Robert Tercek would prefer to have one geek girl for every nerd boy at the high-tech festival he curates, Hybrid World ADL.
He is not quite at that point but the science conference about space, biotechnology, robotics and what’s next in tech – with a bit of drone racing and gaming on the side – has for two years put smart women front and centre.
Us author and futurist Robert Tercek would prefer to have one geek girl for every nerd boy at the high-tech festival he curates, Hybrid World ADL.
He is not quite at that point but the science conference about space, biotechnology, robotics and what’s next in tech – with a bit of drone racing and gaming on the side – has for two years put smart women front and centre.
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Space stands on the edge of transformation – freshly accessible thanks to new technology yet under threat from emerging commercial interests. In July, as part of Hybrid World, Adelaide will be at the forefront of navigating this delicate... more
Space stands on the edge of transformation – freshly accessible thanks to new technology yet under threat from emerging commercial interests. In July, as part of Hybrid World, Adelaide will be at the forefront of navigating this delicate divide.
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Does the humble octopus have alien roots? Megan Fox is going to host and produce a television series on the great myths and mysteries of the world. And, is it fluffy towel or scratchy towel? Dr Alice Gorman takes RN Drive through her... more
Does the humble octopus have alien roots?
Megan Fox is going to host and produce a television series on the great myths and mysteries of the world.
And, is it fluffy towel or scratchy towel?
Dr Alice Gorman takes RN Drive through her social media feed highlights.
Megan Fox is going to host and produce a television series on the great myths and mysteries of the world.
And, is it fluffy towel or scratchy towel?
Dr Alice Gorman takes RN Drive through her social media feed highlights.
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The universe is 13.8 billion years old. We’ve been our current state of human evolution for about 300,000 years. We’ve been pumping radio waves out into the cosmos for little more than 100 years. We’ve already found new — less noisy —... more
The universe is 13.8 billion years old. We’ve been our current state of human evolution for about 300,000 years. We’ve been pumping radio waves out into the cosmos for little more than 100 years. We’ve already found new — less noisy — ways to communicate. And the chances are there that we will either blow ourselves up, or eat ourselves out of house and home, within the next 100. Apply such thinking to an alien civilisation, and the chance of catching such a brief window of opportunity with our radio telescopes is minuscule. So, are we looking in the wrong dimension for intelligent life? Instead of space, should we be searching time?
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Conceptual artist and experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats doesn’t consider himself a musician. “I learned the recorder in fourth grade,” he says. But, a previous investigation into what it would mean for the arts to undergo a... more
Conceptual artist and experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats doesn’t consider himself a musician. “I learned the recorder in fourth grade,” he says. But, a previous investigation into what it would mean for the arts to undergo a Copernican Revolution (in which art, like astronomy, was not centered on Earth and factors known to human artists but expanded its reach to have universal significance) led to the making of what Keats calls the Cosmic Welcome Mat. Keats developed the mats, designed to communicate hospitality to life-forms who may not speak Earth-based languages, with Flinders University space archaeologist Alice Gorman.
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We learn about her journey into the emerging field of space archaeology.
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It's been more than half a year since the Federal Government committed to an Australian space agency. So, when might we get one and what will it mean for our local space industry? Professor Andrew Dempster is the Director of the Centre... more
It's been more than half a year since the Federal Government committed to an Australian space agency. So, when might we get one and what will it mean for our local space industry?
Professor Andrew Dempster is the Director of the Centre for Space Engineering Research at University of NSW.
Alice Gorman is a lecturer in archaeology and space studies at Flinders University.
Professor Andrew Dempster is the Director of the Centre for Space Engineering Research at University of NSW.
Alice Gorman is a lecturer in archaeology and space studies at Flinders University.
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Nearly fifty years since Neil Armstrong first stepped on the moon, Australia is finally in the process of developing a space agency. Of course questions abound about how the agency will be run, where it is to be located and when we will... more
Nearly fifty years since Neil Armstrong first stepped on the moon, Australia is finally in the process of developing a space agency.
Of course questions abound about how the agency will be run, where it is to be located and when we will host Breakfast from orbit.
Alice Gorman, Senior Lecturer of Archaeology and Space Science at Flinders University joins Breakfast’s Tom and Casey to talk about Australia’s venture into the void.
Of course questions abound about how the agency will be run, where it is to be located and when we will host Breakfast from orbit.
Alice Gorman, Senior Lecturer of Archaeology and Space Science at Flinders University joins Breakfast’s Tom and Casey to talk about Australia’s venture into the void.
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Hollywood has built a genre around giant space objects smashing into Earth with catastrophic consequences, and now the plummeting back to Earth of a defunct Chinese space station has led to real-life scenarios about the risk of space... more
Hollywood has built a genre around giant space objects smashing into Earth with catastrophic consequences, and now the plummeting back to Earth of a defunct Chinese space station has led to real-life scenarios about the risk of space junk. The floating pieces of junk are becoming a rising concern and with no way of clearing them, space experts have warned low-Earth orbit could become unusable.
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The space station’s operations have stopped in March 2016 when China lost its capability to control the spacecraft.
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The re-entry of Tiangong 1
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Commencing countdown: a decrepit, out-of-control Chinese space station is hurtling towards Planet Earth.
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With reports of China's Tiangong-1 spacecraft crashing down to Earth, you might be wondering where do spacecrafts actually end up on Earth? There's a dumping ground for old spacecrafts as well. The place has been given lot of names by... more
With reports of China's Tiangong-1 spacecraft crashing down to Earth, you might be wondering where do spacecrafts actually end up on Earth? There's a dumping ground for old spacecrafts as well. The place has been given lot of names by astronauts like Spacecraft Cemetery. The most popular, however, is Point Nemo, which is a name given after author Jules Verne's famous seafaring anti-hero Captain Nemo.
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COMMENCING countdown: a decrepit, out-of-control Chinese space station is hurtling towards Planet Earth. Tiangong 1 (Heavenly Palace) is predicted to crash into our planet on April 1, give or take a few days. South Australia is in the... more
COMMENCING countdown: a decrepit, out-of-control Chinese space station is hurtling towards Planet Earth. Tiangong 1 (Heavenly Palace) is predicted to crash into our planet on April 1, give or take a few days. South Australia is in the potential crash zone.
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If you get killed by the Chinese space station that's due to fall out of the sky this weekend you'll probably be remembered as having had one of the most unlikely deaths on record. Your chances of being hit by Tiangong-1, China’s first... more
If you get killed by the Chinese space station that's due to fall out of the sky this weekend you'll probably be remembered as having had one of the most unlikely deaths on record. Your chances of being hit by Tiangong-1, China’s first space station, are about 10 million times smaller than your yearly chance of being struck by lightning.
But Melburnians would still be advised to watch the skies over the coming days, just in case, with much of Victoria inside a band where there's a very slightly larger possibility of the debris hitting.
But Melburnians would still be advised to watch the skies over the coming days, just in case, with much of Victoria inside a band where there's a very slightly larger possibility of the debris hitting.
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Debris from the out of control Tiangong-1 could reach anywhere between Southern France and Hobart over the Easter weekend.
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Australians on Easter egg hunts this weekend might uncover parts of a Chinese spacecraft - but the chances are slim. One of the world's few space stations, Tiangong-1 or Heavenly Palace 1, is predicted to end its uncontrolled... more
Australians on Easter egg hunts this weekend might uncover parts of a Chinese spacecraft - but the chances are slim.
One of the world's few space stations, Tiangong-1 or Heavenly Palace 1, is predicted to end its uncontrolled 450km-per-minute orbit of Earth and re-enter the atmosphere sometime between Friday and Tuesday.
It's difficult to calculate where parts of the spacecraft could crash into Earth, experts say.
One of the world's few space stations, Tiangong-1 or Heavenly Palace 1, is predicted to end its uncontrolled 450km-per-minute orbit of Earth and re-enter the atmosphere sometime between Friday and Tuesday.
It's difficult to calculate where parts of the spacecraft could crash into Earth, experts say.
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China's unresponsive Tiangong-1 space lab has come down over the South Pacific, it broke up while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere at 17,000 miles per hour according to Chinese reports. Sputnik discussed this with Dr. Alice Gorman, an... more
China's unresponsive Tiangong-1 space lab has come down over the South Pacific, it broke up while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere at 17,000 miles per hour according to Chinese reports. Sputnik discussed this with Dr. Alice Gorman, an internationally recognized leader in the field of space archaeology and Senior Lecturer at Flinders University.
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China's prototype space station, Tiangong-1 or "heavenly place," is falling to Earth and could re-enter the atmosphere as soon as this week. While most of the eight-ton spacecraft is expected to burn up as it plummets through the... more
China's prototype space station, Tiangong-1 or "heavenly place," is falling to Earth and could re-enter the atmosphere as soon as this week.
While most of the eight-ton spacecraft is expected to burn up as it plummets through the atmosphere, there is a chance some of it will survive all the way down to the surface.
While most of the eight-ton spacecraft is expected to burn up as it plummets through the atmosphere, there is a chance some of it will survive all the way down to the surface.
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Interview on 3BA Ballarat Today
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The derelict Russian satellite Cosmos 2251 had been aimlessly spinning around Earth for nearly 15 years when, in 2009, it slammed into a functional Iridium telecommunication satellite at 26,000 miles per hour.
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Right now, somewhere above us a Tesla Roadster is hurtling through space with a mannequin in a spacesuit at the wheel and David Bowie playing on the stereo. Elon Musk made headlines when he shot his car into orbit around the sun but some... more
Right now, somewhere above us a Tesla Roadster is hurtling through space with a mannequin in a spacesuit at the wheel and David Bowie playing on the stereo. Elon Musk made headlines when he shot his car into orbit around the sun but some have criticised the billionaire for simply adding to the ever growing collection of space pollution. How much of an issues is space junk and what, if anything, can be done to help clean it up? Dr Alice Gorman is a space archaeologist at Flinders University and says we need to be doing more to manage the growing collection of trash circling our planet.
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It is official. That SpaceX Falcon Heavy payload has been assigned an interplanetary ID: Tesla Roadster (AKA: Starman, 2018-017A). The Trajectory name is tesla_s3.
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In the past 60 years, humans have left a lot of stuff on other worlds or floating in space. We’ve landed (or crashed) spacecraft on Mercury, Venus, the Moon, Mars, Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, and Titan. Along with the hundreds of... more
In the past 60 years, humans have left a lot of stuff on other worlds or floating in space. We’ve landed (or crashed) spacecraft on Mercury, Venus, the Moon, Mars, Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, and Titan. Along with the hundreds of objects in orbit around Earth, the Moon, and Mars, those spacecraft provide a physical record of human activity that could outlast some of the most ancient ruins here on Earth.
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Zero gravity won't stop humans putting up shiny tinsel and baubles and celebrating the festive season.
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Mir shares the interviews she conducted with 16 space scientists and academics, many of whom helped to inform her series of black-and-white drawings of space travel.
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Award winning science writers gathered for a panel discussion at the Australian Museum in Sydney on the challenges for science writers. The discussion was part of the 2017 Bragg Prizes for Science Writing, presented by the University of... more
Award winning science writers gathered for a panel discussion at the Australian Museum in Sydney on the challenges for science writers. The discussion was part of the 2017 Bragg Prizes for Science Writing, presented by the University of New South Wales. As funding for science writing slowly evaporates, Margaret Wertheim says the effects on what is being written are already becoming evident.
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From robotics to gravity waves, scientific discovery is never short on compelling stories. But despite that, almost everyone has sat through a dull science class or struggled to finish an article that seemed interesting at first... more
From robotics to gravity waves, scientific discovery is never short on compelling stories. But despite that, almost everyone has sat through a dull science class or struggled to finish an article that seemed interesting at first glance.
What's the difference between a science story that captures the imagination and one that loses the reader shortly after the headline? Dr Alice Gorman and Jo Chandler are two of the authors featured in The Best Australian Science Writing 2017 collection.
What's the difference between a science story that captures the imagination and one that loses the reader shortly after the headline? Dr Alice Gorman and Jo Chandler are two of the authors featured in The Best Australian Science Writing 2017 collection.
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Dr Alice Gorman, College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, has been announced as the winner of the Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing. Her essay on the trace fossils of South Australia appeared in the Conversation as... more
Dr Alice Gorman, College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, has been announced as the winner of the Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing. Her essay on the trace fossils of South Australia appeared in the Conversation as "Friday essay: trace fossils – the silence of Ediacara, the shadow of uranium". It first appeared as an essay in the Griffith Review 55th edition, State of Hope and with her win, it has now also been published by the Guardian Australia as "From the Nullarbor to the nuclear age: what fossils reveal about South Australia's past". Alice traced the history of South Australia from an ancient shoreline, through the Gondwana supercontinent and then into the advance and retreat of glaciers, the arrival of Europeans and, finally, the impact of uranium and a rocket test range. All these era's have impacted on archaeological discoveries over time and from different areas of South Australia
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Alice Gorman has won the 2017 Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing for her piece ‘Trace Fossils: The Silence of Ediacara, the Shadow of Uranium’, first published in the Griffith Review.
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The Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing has been awarded to Dr Alice Gorman for her essay on the ancient and modern story of Woomera and the Nullabor Plain.
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We’re proud to have five The Conversation authors featured in the The Best Australian Science Writing 2017, edited by Michael Slezak, and with a foreword by Emma Johnston. The book was launched at The Australian Museum. The blurb... more
We’re proud to have five The Conversation authors featured in the The Best Australian Science Writing 2017, edited by Michael Slezak, and with a foreword by Emma Johnston.
The book was launched at The Australian Museum. The blurb says:
Good writing about science can be moving, funny, exhilarating, or poetic, but it will always be honest and rigorous about the research that underlies it.
The book was launched at The Australian Museum. The blurb says:
Good writing about science can be moving, funny, exhilarating, or poetic, but it will always be honest and rigorous about the research that underlies it.
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While many archaeological digs involve ancient sites and ruins, Chapman art professor Justin Walsh is studying a society that, for the last 17 years, has been orbiting 254 miles above the Earth. “(Scientists have) been studying the... more
While many archaeological digs involve ancient sites and ruins, Chapman art professor Justin Walsh is studying a society that, for the last 17 years, has been orbiting 254 miles above the Earth. “(Scientists have) been studying the consequences of long durations of space flight for decades, but nobody has ever looked at the social or cultural aspect,” Walsh said. Walsh and his colleague, Alice Gorman of Flinders University in south Australia, are studying the society that exists in the International Space Station, which is the only permanent human habitation site in outer space.
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It may look like an ordinary door mat, but its creators insist the conceptual art piece could encourage alien life to visit Earth - and help create a new kind of space archaeology.
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When most people think of archaeology, images of bones, ancient artifacts, and dig sites come to mind. But Justin Walsh, Ph.D. and Alice Gorman, Ph.D. are taking a new approach to archaeology—trading in their shovels and picks for... more
When most people think of archaeology, images of bones, ancient artifacts, and dig sites come to mind. But Justin Walsh, Ph.D. and Alice Gorman, Ph.D. are taking a new approach to archaeology—trading in their shovels and picks for something out of this world, literally. The two have launched ISS Archaeology, the first archaeological study of a space habitat.
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You might want to keep your eyes on the sky over the next few months.
A Chinese space lab, called Tiangong-1, is currently hurtling towards Earth and is expected to re-enter into our atmosphere sometime between now and early next year.
A Chinese space lab, called Tiangong-1, is currently hurtling towards Earth and is expected to re-enter into our atmosphere sometime between now and early next year.
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Archaeological objects must not be thousands of years old. Today, much of our material culture is also in space. How will it affect the archeology of the future? Alice Gorman, at Flinders University in Australia, is one of the first... more
Archaeological objects must not be thousands of years old. Today, much of our material culture is also in space. How will it affect the archeology of the future?
Alice Gorman, at Flinders University in Australia, is one of the first so-called "space archaeologists". The research field is still fresh, and Alice Gorman's main focus is what the material culture humanity left behind in space can tell us. Under the name Dr. Space Junk , she blogs about her involvement in this field, and in an interview in New Yorker , she tells about life as space archaeologist.
Alice Gorman, at Flinders University in Australia, is one of the first so-called "space archaeologists". The research field is still fresh, and Alice Gorman's main focus is what the material culture humanity left behind in space can tell us. Under the name Dr. Space Junk , she blogs about her involvement in this field, and in an interview in New Yorker , she tells about life as space archaeologist.
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If there was ever any doubt that we are living in a new golden age of space discovery, then this week should dispel all misgivings. The world is currently engaged in a spate of frenetic exploration the like of which has not been seen... more
If there was ever any doubt that we are living in a new golden age of space discovery, then this week should dispel all misgivings. The world is currently engaged in a spate of frenetic exploration the like of which has not been seen since the era of the Apollo Missions during the late 1960s and early 70s. From advanced satellite launches and space walks, to plans for a mission to Mars and the study of asteroids heading near Earth, the sky above our planet has never been so full of human activity.
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Humanity will find alien life within the next two decades, an astronomer has claimed. In a recent interview, a senior expert at the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute said he 'bet everybody a cup of coffee that... more
Humanity will find alien life within the next two decades, an astronomer has claimed. In a recent interview, a senior expert at the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute said he 'bet everybody a cup of coffee that we'll find intelligent life within 20 years'. The SETI Institute has spent decades researching strange and unexplained signals in our universe in the search for intelligent life.
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If there is extraterrestrial life out there, why haven’t we found any yet? Perhaps it’s because we never invited them in.
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Researchers fascinated with the Fermi paradox want to send a friendly sign to other worlds. It may look like an ordinary door mat, but its creators insist the conceptual art piece could encourage alien life to visit Earth — and help... more
Researchers fascinated with the Fermi paradox want to send a friendly sign to other worlds. It may look like an ordinary door mat, but its creators insist the conceptual art piece could encourage alien life to visit Earth — and help create a new kind of space archaeology.
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Interview with Dr Alice Gorman, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology an 26 Sep 2017 3:48PM • ABC Radio Canberra, Canberra (Drive) hosted by Adam Shirley Interview with Dr Alice Gorman, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology and Space Studies,... more
Interview with Dr Alice Gorman, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology an
26 Sep 2017 3:48PM • ABC Radio Canberra, Canberra (Drive)
hosted by Adam Shirley
Interview with Dr Alice Gorman, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology and Space Studies, Flinders University. Orbiting above us at nearly eight kilometres per second each and every day are things from space ages past, satellites from the 1950s and the 1960s. Gorman is speaking to Shirley from the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide. She says it's a game changer for Australia, that the country will stepping up to the plate in an international sense and there will be an opportunity to have views about how space should be heard in a whole new way. She says there has been a fair amount of stuff into Earth's orbit in space from humans, at least more than 23,000 bits of stuff that are larger than 10 centimetres, from satellites the size of two buses down to something the size of an orange, and millions and millions of tiny little fragments. She says the among the junk, there are the satellites that are the source of telecommunication, weather, and all other stuff transmitted, so they don't want anything to happen to them, but they do need to get rid of some the stuff, and what she'd like to see happen is to stop and look at if it may be a satellite that may be meaningful for space history or have a special association to some group of people on Earth.
26 Sep 2017 3:48PM • ABC Radio Canberra, Canberra (Drive)
hosted by Adam Shirley
Interview with Dr Alice Gorman, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology and Space Studies, Flinders University. Orbiting above us at nearly eight kilometres per second each and every day are things from space ages past, satellites from the 1950s and the 1960s. Gorman is speaking to Shirley from the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide. She says it's a game changer for Australia, that the country will stepping up to the plate in an international sense and there will be an opportunity to have views about how space should be heard in a whole new way. She says there has been a fair amount of stuff into Earth's orbit in space from humans, at least more than 23,000 bits of stuff that are larger than 10 centimetres, from satellites the size of two buses down to something the size of an orange, and millions and millions of tiny little fragments. She says the among the junk, there are the satellites that are the source of telecommunication, weather, and all other stuff transmitted, so they don't want anything to happen to them, but they do need to get rid of some the stuff, and what she'd like to see happen is to stop and look at if it may be a satellite that may be meaningful for space history or have a special association to some group of people on Earth.
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Interview with Alice Gorman, senior lecturer in archaeology and space studies, Flinders University. Saunders asks about space junk. Gorman answers she has never calculated how much junk was up there but there are probably a few hundred... more
Interview with Alice Gorman, senior lecturer in archaeology and space studies, Flinders University. Saunders asks about space junk. Gorman answers she has never calculated how much junk was up there but there are probably a few hundred old satellites. Gorman shares Australia has two junks in the space. She notes the Outer Space Treaty says a nation cannot make a territorial claim on space. She thinks it might be the right time to clean the space. She shares they celebrated when Australia's space agency was announced.
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The space race is more than just sending objects and people into the universe, it's also about bringing them back. Space debris is a growing problem, with real concerns about the dangers and clutter caused by the millions of objects... more
The space race is more than just sending objects and people into the universe, it's also about bringing them back. Space debris is a growing problem, with real concerns about the dangers and clutter caused by the millions of objects floating around the earth's orbit. But when is junk, not junk? That's the question being considered by those in the emerging field of space archaeology, who are argue the case for cultural space preservation.
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Maybe E.T. has just been waiting for an invitation.
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Interactive Presentation at the International Astronautrical Congress 2017
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As we move into a more connected world dependent on satellite information, the rise of small satellites, we will see more and more objects in orbit. This will create a significant environmental problem as we find a large number of space... more
As we move into a more connected world dependent on satellite information, the rise of small satellites, we will see more and more objects in orbit.
This will create a significant environmental problem as we find a large number of space junk or orbital debris. Something will need to be done about it before space gets too congested. Dr Alice Gorman, in this session, will focus on the cultural significance/heritage value of space junk. Dr Gorman will contribute a cultural-heritage perspective to international agreements on reducing the orbital debris problem
This will create a significant environmental problem as we find a large number of space junk or orbital debris. Something will need to be done about it before space gets too congested. Dr Alice Gorman, in this session, will focus on the cultural significance/heritage value of space junk. Dr Gorman will contribute a cultural-heritage perspective to international agreements on reducing the orbital debris problem
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Communicating our work to the public has been a source of ongoing debate in the Australian archaeological community for decades. With the growth of online platforms such as blogs, Flickr, Facebook, Wikipedia, and Academia.edu, to name but... more
Communicating our work to the public has been a source of ongoing debate in the Australian archaeological community for decades. With the growth of online platforms such as blogs, Flickr, Facebook, Wikipedia, and Academia.edu, to name but a few, it has never been easier to reach diverse audiences at local and global levels. Ironically, however, few archaeologists choose to engage with these platforms as a way of promoting their research.
In 2004 I began my blog Space Age Archaeology, which is archived by the National Library of Australia as a significant scientific publication. In that time, the world of social media has changed dramatically and is now gaining credibility in research and publishing. Despite this, most studies of social media use in archaeology have to date focused on institutional or corporate blogs, with little attention paid to individuals. In this presentation I reflect on my most popular posts and the challenges of negotiating one’s voice across multiple platforms. I also look at how the landscape of online publishing has changed with the entry of newer platforms such as Twitter, and the impacts on my online practice. I argue that the rewards of participation in these multiscale webs of communication are both personal and discipline-wide. Social media may not be for everyone, but are they a tool we can afford to ignore?
Paper presented at the Australian Archaeological Association Annual Conference, Coffs Harbour, 2013
In 2004 I began my blog Space Age Archaeology, which is archived by the National Library of Australia as a significant scientific publication. In that time, the world of social media has changed dramatically and is now gaining credibility in research and publishing. Despite this, most studies of social media use in archaeology have to date focused on institutional or corporate blogs, with little attention paid to individuals. In this presentation I reflect on my most popular posts and the challenges of negotiating one’s voice across multiple platforms. I also look at how the landscape of online publishing has changed with the entry of newer platforms such as Twitter, and the impacts on my online practice. I argue that the rewards of participation in these multiscale webs of communication are both personal and discipline-wide. Social media may not be for everyone, but are they a tool we can afford to ignore?
Paper presented at the Australian Archaeological Association Annual Conference, Coffs Harbour, 2013
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Invited guest presentation
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As a founder of space archaeology, one of John Campbell’s legacies is the big picture context of life in the universe. I was first inspired to investigate the cultural significance of Dyson Spheres – planet-scaled artificial structures... more
As a founder of space archaeology, one of John Campbell’s legacies is the big picture context of life in the universe. I was first inspired to investigate the cultural significance of Dyson Spheres – planet-scaled artificial structures that are held by some to be a likely feature of advanced technological ‘civilisations’ – by John’s groundbreaking paper at the World Archaeological Congress 5 in 2003. John looked at human culture as just one of many possible cultures at galactic scales of time and space, and asked how we might recognize the evidence of other sentient life. One example of this was the Dyson sphere: a solar energy-collecting constellation of
satellites that may encompass entire planets. In this presentation, I explore Dyson Spheres in their next stage of evolution – the Matrioshka Brain – and consider how human material culture in our solar system may represent the beginning of such a trajectory.
Satellites in earth orbit could be recast as elements of computronium, giving them cultural significance not only for their historic associations, but also as precursors of a critical technology – the relationship that tin cans on a string hold to satellite-based telecommunications. While this significance may not become evident for hundreds of years, the challenge is to give space archaeology a future-oriented vision of space material culture in the present.
satellites that may encompass entire planets. In this presentation, I explore Dyson Spheres in their next stage of evolution – the Matrioshka Brain – and consider how human material culture in our solar system may represent the beginning of such a trajectory.
Satellites in earth orbit could be recast as elements of computronium, giving them cultural significance not only for their historic associations, but also as precursors of a critical technology – the relationship that tin cans on a string hold to satellite-based telecommunications. While this significance may not become evident for hundreds of years, the challenge is to give space archaeology a future-oriented vision of space material culture in the present.
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Workshop, SpaceUp Australia: emotional attachments to space hardware
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The gravity of archaeology One of the defining features of the material culture of space exploration is the fact that much of it is "out there": in orbit around celestial bodies, on planterary surfaces, or beyond the heliopause at the... more
The gravity of archaeology
One of the defining features of the material culture of space exploration is the fact that much of it is "out there": in orbit around celestial bodies, on planterary surfaces, or beyond the heliopause at the end of the solar system. In outer space, we have to rethink the meaning of place. Cartesian coordinates must be replaced with equations of motion to describe the ceaseless movement of heavenly objects in relation to centres of gravity.
Archaeological sites in space are not solid condensations of artefacts, hundreds or thousands of years compressed into layers perhaps only centimetres deep. The materials of an archaeological deposit become rather a cloud or swarm. But for both earth and space, gravity is the structuring force. In this paper I want to reconceptualise archaeological sites according to their position in the gravity well. How are spatial and chronological relationships manifested in microgravity? What are the implications for terrestrial, maritime and celestial archaeology?
One of the defining features of the material culture of space exploration is the fact that much of it is "out there": in orbit around celestial bodies, on planterary surfaces, or beyond the heliopause at the end of the solar system. In outer space, we have to rethink the meaning of place. Cartesian coordinates must be replaced with equations of motion to describe the ceaseless movement of heavenly objects in relation to centres of gravity.
Archaeological sites in space are not solid condensations of artefacts, hundreds or thousands of years compressed into layers perhaps only centimetres deep. The materials of an archaeological deposit become rather a cloud or swarm. But for both earth and space, gravity is the structuring force. In this paper I want to reconceptualise archaeological sites according to their position in the gravity well. How are spatial and chronological relationships manifested in microgravity? What are the implications for terrestrial, maritime and celestial archaeology?
The International Geophysical Year in 1957-58 heralded a new phase in the development of space technology: the era of the world-circling spaceship, or satellite. Satellites have revolutionised telecommunications, meteorology, navigation,... more
The International Geophysical Year in 1957-58 heralded a new phase in the development of space technology: the era of the world-circling spaceship, or satellite. Satellites have revolutionised telecommunications, meteorology, navigation, planetary science, space science, and war, having a profound impact on terrestrial human life. However, this revolution has come at a cost, as commonly used earth orbits are now crowded with space junk. Orbital debris mitigation is fast becoming the major priority for national and international space organizations.
But what if orbital debris has cultural heritage value? How can this value be managed appropriately as space industry plans for orbital clean-up? In order to answer these questions, I review the material culture of space exploration in orbit in the critical period between the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 and the first geosynchronous satellite, Syncom 2, in 1963. I argue that orbital material, both debris and functioning spacecraft, forms a “spacescape” that has value in its own right. This unique cultural record tells its own story of the space age, the beginning of an evolutionary trajectory into an unknown future.
But what if orbital debris has cultural heritage value? How can this value be managed appropriately as space industry plans for orbital clean-up? In order to answer these questions, I review the material culture of space exploration in orbit in the critical period between the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 and the first geosynchronous satellite, Syncom 2, in 1963. I argue that orbital material, both debris and functioning spacecraft, forms a “spacescape” that has value in its own right. This unique cultural record tells its own story of the space age, the beginning of an evolutionary trajectory into an unknown future.
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In 1958, a new kind of human artefact entered a new environment, when Sputnik 1 successfully entered Earth orbit. Although it remained there for only for a few months, it was the precursor of an entire industry which has resulted in... more
In 1958, a new kind of human artefact entered a new environment, when Sputnik 1 successfully entered Earth orbit. Although it remained there for only for a few months, it was the precursor of an entire industry which has resulted in thousands of satellites, rocket bodies and other objects currently orbiting the Earth. Many of these have great cultural significance. They represent numerous ‘firsts’ (eg the first active telecommunications commercial satellite, Telstar 1), national aspirations in space, design and technology evolution, and the ideologies which drove their launch – most particularly in the Cold War. Elsewhere, I have argued that ‘space junk’ forms an organically evolved cultural landscape which has value in its own right. For this reason, and also because the Burra Charter recommends that in good heritage management one should “do as little as possible but as much is necessary”, I have suggested that removal of space objects to Earth is not the most appropriate strategy. On the other hand, the space environment is far from the simple vacuum of popular imagination. It is rather a maelstrom of high-energy particles, radiation, hot gas clouds, magnetic fields and meteor swarms. If we leave culturally significant spacecraft in orbit, how will this affect the long-term integrity of their fabric? In this paper, I consider the impacts of the space environment on terrestrial materials used in spacecraft industry, and the future prospects for curating what is, effectively, an orbital museum.
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"Theory, atheory or anti-theory? Issues in Australian archaeology. Conveners: Alice Gorman (Flinders University) and Tom Sapienza (University of California, Berkeley) Alice.Gorman@flinders.edu.au sapienza@berkeley.edu From... more
"Theory, atheory or anti-theory? Issues in Australian archaeology.
Conveners: Alice Gorman (Flinders University) and Tom Sapienza (University of California, Berkeley)
Alice.Gorman@flinders.edu.au
sapienza@berkeley.edu
From students to professionals, many archaeologists in Australia today deny that they are operating in a theoretical framework, or question the usefulness of theoretical approaches to their practice. With ever greater numbers of archaeologists in academia and cultural heritage management, what are the implications of this retreat from archaeological theory for the discipline? Since all data are theory-laden, what does Australian archaeology's particular interaction with theoretical matters say about our data?
Because of Australia’s history, location and unique archaeological record, archaeologists here have the potential to offer new theoretical insights into such questions as the origins of behavioural modernity, the relationship between lithics and social behaviour, cultural responses to climate change and the role of communities in creating heritage, to name a few. Despite the existence of outstanding scholarship in many of these areas, we suggest that an a- or anti-theoretical culture, perhaps related to a broader Australian anti-intellectual tradition and the “cultural cringe”, has limited the realisation of this potential.
Moreover, disciplines such as history and geography are currently engaging with a “material turn” (eg Bennett and Joyce 2010), acknowledging that material culture is a legitimate and indeed necessary component of their enquiries. As they look to archaeology to understand how this works, we find ourselves in an awkward position. The question of whether archaeology has developed its own theories, as opposed to borrowing in bower-bird fashion from other disciplines, remains contentious.
In this session, we want to examine the nature of theory in Australian archaeology today, both in the academic and private sectors. We invite contributions which address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
• Teaching archaeological theory
• Theory and communities; theory and students
• Contemporary theoretical developments in Australia
• Case studies in the application of theory
• Historical analyses
• The use of theory in cultural heritage management
References
Bennett, Tony and Patrick Joyce (eds) 2010 Material Powers: Cultural Studies, History and the Material Turn. London and New York: Routledge
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Conveners: Alice Gorman (Flinders University) and Tom Sapienza (University of California, Berkeley)
Alice.Gorman@flinders.edu.au
sapienza@berkeley.edu
From students to professionals, many archaeologists in Australia today deny that they are operating in a theoretical framework, or question the usefulness of theoretical approaches to their practice. With ever greater numbers of archaeologists in academia and cultural heritage management, what are the implications of this retreat from archaeological theory for the discipline? Since all data are theory-laden, what does Australian archaeology's particular interaction with theoretical matters say about our data?
Because of Australia’s history, location and unique archaeological record, archaeologists here have the potential to offer new theoretical insights into such questions as the origins of behavioural modernity, the relationship between lithics and social behaviour, cultural responses to climate change and the role of communities in creating heritage, to name a few. Despite the existence of outstanding scholarship in many of these areas, we suggest that an a- or anti-theoretical culture, perhaps related to a broader Australian anti-intellectual tradition and the “cultural cringe”, has limited the realisation of this potential.
Moreover, disciplines such as history and geography are currently engaging with a “material turn” (eg Bennett and Joyce 2010), acknowledging that material culture is a legitimate and indeed necessary component of their enquiries. As they look to archaeology to understand how this works, we find ourselves in an awkward position. The question of whether archaeology has developed its own theories, as opposed to borrowing in bower-bird fashion from other disciplines, remains contentious.
In this session, we want to examine the nature of theory in Australian archaeology today, both in the academic and private sectors. We invite contributions which address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
• Teaching archaeological theory
• Theory and communities; theory and students
• Contemporary theoretical developments in Australia
• Case studies in the application of theory
• Historical analyses
• The use of theory in cultural heritage management
References
Bennett, Tony and Patrick Joyce (eds) 2010 Material Powers: Cultural Studies, History and the Material Turn. London and New York: Routledge
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In the 1950s and 60s, Maralinga and Emu Field in South Australia were the site of a series of nuclear tests, controversial not least because of their effects on the Aboriginal people of the region. Following the period of active testing,... more
In the 1950s and 60s, Maralinga and Emu Field in South Australia were the site of a series of nuclear tests, controversial not least because of their effects on the Aboriginal people of the region. Following the period of active testing, Maralinga Village was largely dismantled with buildings, equipment and materials sold and dispersed. The “ground zero” areas were remediated in 1967, and in several phases between 1994 and 2000.
With proposals to develop the tourist potential of Maralinga, the challenge is to represent what is no longer there. The ground zeros are now marked by monuments, and warning signs, the pits of nuclear testing filled in and smoothed over by remediation. However, despite this massive re-landscaping, the ground is still littered with the remnants of test infrastructure. In places, vehicle tracks from the remediation phase survive, overlain by those of more recent visitors. Among the more personal remains are “dinner camps” left from the 1950s survey by Len Beadell, and construction workers into the 1960s. Ephemeral sites such as these have been the focus of a contemporary archaeological approach at other nuclear test landscapes, such as the Nevada Test Site in the US. In this paper, I consider the potential of archaeology to inform the stories that can be told about this brief phase in Australia’s Cold War history.
With proposals to develop the tourist potential of Maralinga, the challenge is to represent what is no longer there. The ground zeros are now marked by monuments, and warning signs, the pits of nuclear testing filled in and smoothed over by remediation. However, despite this massive re-landscaping, the ground is still littered with the remnants of test infrastructure. In places, vehicle tracks from the remediation phase survive, overlain by those of more recent visitors. Among the more personal remains are “dinner camps” left from the 1950s survey by Len Beadell, and construction workers into the 1960s. Ephemeral sites such as these have been the focus of a contemporary archaeological approach at other nuclear test landscapes, such as the Nevada Test Site in the US. In this paper, I consider the potential of archaeology to inform the stories that can be told about this brief phase in Australia’s Cold War history.
Indigenous and technological heritage at Woomera, South Australia
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Dr. Alice Gorman speaks at the Tech Conference at Hybrid World Adelaide, Tuesday 24 July 2018.
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Not all archaeologists spend their time digging up historical sites – a select few look to the stars to understand what space means to society and culture. Professor Alice Gorman, AKA @drspacejunk, is one of the leading experts in the... more
Not all archaeologists spend their time digging up historical sites – a select few look to the stars to understand what space means to society and culture. Professor Alice Gorman, AKA @drspacejunk, is one of the leading experts in the field and explains what it is exactly that she does and why its so relevant to the world around us.
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NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is about to finish its 20 year mission exploring Saturn. The last 147 days have been spent spiralling between Saturn’s rings and the planet, with 22 dives into this uncharted territory over the last few months.... more
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is about to finish its 20 year mission exploring Saturn. The last 147 days have been spent spiralling between Saturn’s rings and the planet, with 22 dives into this uncharted territory over the last few months. The craft will enter Saturn’s atmosphere on Friday night, beaming back in real time, as much science as possible to the CSIRO team at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex before it meets its firey doom. While NASA had extended the mission in the past, the operating scientists worried that, with propellant running low, the probe might otherwise have accidentally crashed into one of Saturn's nearby moons, contaminating it with Earthling bacteria stuck to the spacecraft.
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We introduced spaceflight historian and Youtuber Amy Shira Teitel (aka Vintage Space) and space archaeologist from Flinders University Dr Alice Gorman and then just let them geek out over their favourite bits of space history! They chat... more
We introduced spaceflight historian and Youtuber Amy Shira Teitel (aka Vintage Space) and space archaeologist from Flinders University Dr Alice Gorman and then just let them geek out over their favourite bits of space history! They chat about everything from the story of how bits of a US Space Station ended up in the Miss Universe pageant to Neil Armstrong’s appearance on I Dream of Jeanie.
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Presentation at the Final Frontier Festival, Melbourne 2016
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It was 1957 when Sputnik 1 was launched by the Soviet Union and after 3 months in orbit, the satellite fell back to earth. It was, however, quickly followed by Vangaurd 1 in 1958, launched by the US, which continues to be the oldest... more
It was 1957 when Sputnik 1 was launched by the Soviet Union and after 3 months in orbit, the satellite fell back to earth. It was, however, quickly followed by Vangaurd 1 in 1958, launched by the US, which continues to be the oldest material in space. There is a history with material traces that remain as space junk in the universe, floating, orbiting, transforming the ways in which we see the milky way. Space is a cultural landscape within which the many relationships between orbital debris, terrestrial launch sites and politics can be traced and understood. What does an archaeology of space even look like? In this talk, @drspacejunk moved us between the stars and thought through the detritus of earthly celestial politics by way of satellite poetics.
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This public lecture forms part of the Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program, held at the University of South Australia in partnership with the International Space University. In this lecture, several artists discuss the topic of Space... more
This public lecture forms part of the Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program, held at the University of South Australia in partnership with the International Space University. In this lecture, several artists discuss the topic of Space and Popular Culture.
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Brian Muirhead, Tim Parsons, Alice Gorman and another bloke at the Second Off-Earth Mining Forum, 2015
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Did your favourite rocket-man or space-lady make the cut? Find out who inspires our team of space experts.
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Whether it’s Earth or the far corners of the cosmos, everyone’s got a favourite celestial body. Find out what planets are the favorite of our space experts.
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A human mission to Mars goes awry and an astronaut, presumed dead, is left behind on the planet by his crew. Sounds like the work of science-fiction? But could humans really survive on Mars? According to Andy Weir’s 2011 best-selling... more
A human mission to Mars goes awry and an astronaut, presumed dead, is left behind on the planet by his crew. Sounds like the work of science-fiction?
But could humans really survive on Mars? According to Andy Weir’s 2011 best-selling science-fiction novel The Martian we can not only survive but actually thrive on the red planet – well almost.
In celebration of the recent cinematic release of The Martian we have gone behind the scenes to discover more about the science and innovation behind this blockbuster film with our special series Mars on the Horizon.
Including exclusive interviews with author Andy Weir and astronaut Chris Hadfield as well as leading scientists and visual effects producer, this series looks at the science facts and fictions of space, Mars and movie making.
But could humans really survive on Mars? According to Andy Weir’s 2011 best-selling science-fiction novel The Martian we can not only survive but actually thrive on the red planet – well almost.
In celebration of the recent cinematic release of The Martian we have gone behind the scenes to discover more about the science and innovation behind this blockbuster film with our special series Mars on the Horizon.
Including exclusive interviews with author Andy Weir and astronaut Chris Hadfield as well as leading scientists and visual effects producer, this series looks at the science facts and fictions of space, Mars and movie making.
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Dr Alice Gorman / Flinders University Australia presents her work on preserving Space Heritage to the Space Environment Utilization working group at the Asia-Pacific Region Space Agency Forum 2010.
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On the 11th March 2015, the Wheeler Centre kindly played host to us and three of Australia's top experts on space, Dr Alice Gorman, Dr Tim Parsons and Dianne McGrath. An hour of fascinating insights into the most exciting time in space... more
On the 11th March 2015, the Wheeler Centre kindly played host to us and three of Australia's top experts on space, Dr Alice Gorman, Dr Tim Parsons and Dianne McGrath. An hour of fascinating insights into the most exciting time in space exploration since the Apollo era. If you want to see what went down check out the #fcnewspace hashtag on Twitter. This is the second of the three interviews we did at the event, featuring Dr Alice Gorman, an internationally recognised leader in the emerging field of space archaeology. She is a lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at Flinders University, an Adjunct Fellow at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University, and a member of the National Executive Council of the Space Industry Association of Australia.
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As history has repeatedly shown, where there are valuable minerals to be unearthed, adventurous humans will arrive in droves - even if it means battling extreme conditions and risking life and limb. So what will happen when the next great... more
As history has repeatedly shown, where there are valuable minerals to be unearthed, adventurous humans will arrive in droves - even if it means battling extreme conditions and risking life and limb. So what will happen when the next great "gold rush" in our history is quite literally out of this world? And what kind of technology would be needed for the mining?
Dr. Alice Gorman is a space archaeologist, and lectures at Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia. This film was made by screen and media students of Flinders University, 2011.
Dr. Alice Gorman, Australian Space Anthropologist answers 3 Vox Pop questions for the ISEA 2013 Art(ist)s in Space Panel, Chaired by Dr. Sarah Jane Pell: Q.1. If all of humankind belongs to space, does all space belong to humankind?... more
Dr. Alice Gorman, Australian Space Anthropologist answers 3 Vox Pop questions for the ISEA 2013 Art(ist)s in Space Panel, Chaired by Dr. Sarah Jane Pell:
Q.1. If all of humankind belongs to space, does all space belong to humankind?
Q.2. Can you remember your first space-love experience and did it involve art?
Q.3. Is it too soon to be planning an Interplanetary Symposium of Electronic Arts?
ISEA 2013 Conference, University of Sydney, Australia. 10-3 June 2013
isea2013.org/events/artists-in-space-panel/
Q.1. If all of humankind belongs to space, does all space belong to humankind?
Q.2. Can you remember your first space-love experience and did it involve art?
Q.3. Is it too soon to be planning an Interplanetary Symposium of Electronic Arts?
ISEA 2013 Conference, University of Sydney, Australia. 10-3 June 2013
isea2013.org/events/artists-in-space-panel/
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Additionally, this issue of The Précis is pleased to include two guest commentaries in the Foreign Legislation and Policy Section: Dr. Alice Gorman will provide Subscribers with her perspective on Australia’s efforts to reevaluate its... more
Additionally, this issue of The Précis is pleased to include two guest commentaries in the Foreign Legislation and Policy Section: Dr. Alice Gorman will provide Subscribers with her perspective on Australia’s efforts to reevaluate its domestic space industry and law and Dr. Christopher Newman will update Subscribers on important developments with the UK’s domestic space law. The Précis values Dr. Gorman and Dr. Newman’s contributions as both are respected members in their fields and the outer space legal and policy community.
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The best of the web from Griffith Review writers and editors.
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Forget the Festival State, as many South Australian number plates now proudly proclaim – can we become the Space State?
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Thoughts on Chandelier, an art work made from microscope objectives.
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During long voyages in space it is possible that people will die, either from illness or because of an accident. What plans are there for disposal of the corpses?
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You may have heard or read that Australian lithic industries are extremely sparse and unsophisticated; if so, prepare to be surprised!
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A report on the Lithic Studies conference
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As part of my Ph.D. research on use-wear and residues on flaked stone and bottle-glass razors, I examined two obsidian razors from the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford (U.K.). A razor can be defined as any sharp-edged cutting tool that is... more
As part of my Ph.D. research on use-wear and residues on flaked stone and bottle-glass razors, I examined two obsidian razors from the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford (U.K.). A razor can be defined as any sharp-edged cutting tool that is generally used on the human body, whether for shaving, hair-cutting, surgery, scarification or tattooing.
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The founding president of AACA, Dr LAILA HAGLUND, talks to ALICE GORMAN about the ideas that led to the formation of the association.
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Since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, human material culture has started to migrate from terrestrial environments into orbital and planetary locations from Mercury to the interstellar boundary. Each satellite, probe and planetary landing... more
Since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, human material culture has started to migrate from terrestrial environments into orbital and planetary locations from Mercury to the interstellar boundary. Each satellite, probe and planetary landing site has a story to tell about perceptions of, and adaptations to, space. Through examples such as the Messenger spacecraft's recent impact crater on Mercury, the Venera missions to Venus, and the Voyager spacecraft, this talk will explore the archaeological record from a solar system perspective.
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During a recent survey of the former NASA satellite tracking station at Orroral Valley in the ACT (1965-1985), large numbers of plastic cable ties were recorded, prompting an investigation into their history, manufacture and use in... more
During a recent survey of the former NASA satellite tracking station at Orroral Valley in the ACT (1965-1985), large numbers of plastic cable ties were recorded, prompting an investigation into their history, manufacture and use in aerospace industry. However, what makes this artefact type so extraordinary is its migration into the domain of everyday life, to the point where cable ties are both ubiquitous yet unnoticed by those who use them. This paper is a preliminary exploration of how cable ties demonstrate the value of archaeological approaches to the contemporary past.
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The archaeology of space exploration is an emerging field, and the Woomera rocket range is a particularly valuable resource.
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An overview of archaeological fieldwork undertaken with the Sydney University Landscape Archaeology project at Vinhais, and the University of Porto excavation at Castelo Velho.
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The head of NASA, administrator Jim Bridenstine, has called a recent Indian anti-satellite missile test, which destroyed a satellite in low Earth orbit and blasted 400 pieces of debris into space, a "terrible, terrible thing".
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Ancient aliens and exploring Egyptians. According to the History Channel, all visited Australia 50,000 years ago. And the evidence is … out there.
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China is celebrating its successful landing of a probe on the far side of the moon as a big step in its mission to become a space power. Australian scientists agree it's a big achievement and are looking forward to the results of the... more
China is celebrating its successful landing of a probe on the far side of the moon as a big step in its mission to become a space power.
Australian scientists agree it's a big achievement and are looking forward to the results of the mission's experiments.
Featured:
Dr Alice Gorman, space archaeologist, Flinders University
Professor Richard de Grijs, astrophysicist, Macquarie University
Australian scientists agree it's a big achievement and are looking forward to the results of the mission's experiments.
Featured:
Dr Alice Gorman, space archaeologist, Flinders University
Professor Richard de Grijs, astrophysicist, Macquarie University
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Interviewed by Narelle Graham, National Drive
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Some time close to Christmas in 2020, a capsule the size of a large cake tin will hurtle back to earth at a speed of 12 kilometres per second, before releasing a parachute and landing in the Woomera Test Range in South Australia. All... more
Some time close to Christmas in 2020, a capsule the size of a large cake tin will hurtle back to earth at a speed of 12 kilometres per second, before releasing a parachute and landing in the Woomera Test Range in South Australia. All going well this capsule, which will carry samples from the Ryugu asteroid that orbits between Earth and Mars, would have travelled more than 5 billion kilometres as part of Japan's Hayabusa2 project. It's a 4 year round trip to the asteroid and 1 year home-and its success so far has made project manager Tsuda Yuichi a space celebrity. Thanks to his project, Japan has become the first country to successfully land not just one but two robotic rovers on an asteroid and they are currently in the process of collecting what could be breakthrough samples and data.
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NASA's InSight lander has touched down on Mars after spending almost 7 months travelling through space. Its mission is to measure the temperature of the red planet and listen out for any earthquakes to help scientists understand more... more
NASA's InSight lander has touched down on Mars after spending almost 7 months travelling through space. Its mission is to measure the temperature of the red planet and listen out for any earthquakes to help scientists understand more about the interior of the planet.
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SpaceX received approval Friday from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for its ambitious constellation of thousands of broadband satellites. The FCC is worried, however, what the dramatic expansion of man-made objects in low... more
SpaceX received approval Friday from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for its ambitious constellation of thousands of broadband satellites. The FCC is worried, however, what the dramatic expansion of man-made objects in low orbit will mean for the growing problem of space junk.
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A third rover has touched down on the surface of asteroid Ryugu, marking a hat-trick of successful landings for the Japanese Hayabusa2 space mission.
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Australia’s Space Agency will touch down in Adelaide by mid-2019. It is hoped that it will help triple Australia’s space economy to $12 billion by 2030.
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Time is running out for the states and territories to make their case to house the new Australian Space Agency, as the organisation "hits the ground running" in its efforts to spruik the country's space credentials internationally.
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Japan's space agency has landed two rovers on the surface of an asteroid, meaning they've also landed into the history books. The rovers are the first to land successfully on an asteroid's surface. Space experts are excited, saying it... more
Japan's space agency has landed two rovers on the surface of an asteroid, meaning they've also landed into the history books. The rovers are the first to land successfully on an asteroid's surface. Space experts are excited, saying it could be the key to discovering how so much water ended up on Earth — and even how life began. Duration: 2min 37sec
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When Elon Musk announced the first passenger to buy a trip around the moon on his yet-to-be-built rocket on Monday (Sept. 17), there was a plot twist: That passenger, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, wanted to bring half a dozen... more
When Elon Musk announced the first passenger to buy a trip around the moon on his yet-to-be-built rocket on Monday (Sept. 17), there was a plot twist: That passenger, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, wanted to bring half a dozen artists on the journey with him.
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NASA has launched the Parker Solar Probe automatic station to explore the Sun in a landmark mission. The probe took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Sunday following a failed attempt the day before. US scientists expect the spacecraft... more
NASA has launched the Parker Solar Probe automatic station to explore the Sun in a landmark mission. The probe took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Sunday following a failed attempt the day before. US scientists expect the spacecraft will provide them with new data on processes in the solar atmosphere that are important for life on Earth.
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Musk and his fellow-“astropreneurs” have tapped into our idealism about space travel. But to what end?
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Megan Fox has joined forces with the Travel Channel as she sets out to examine various historical events and debunk previously held notions about what we have learned about them. As to be expected, archaeologists have hit back at the... more
Megan Fox has joined forces with the Travel Channel as she sets out to examine various historical events and debunk previously held notions about what we have learned about them. As to be expected, archaeologists have hit back at the actress who doesn’t have a degree in anything science or history related.
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TAKE one gorgeous movie actress — Megan Fox. Add funding from the Travel Channel. Mix with a wealth of ancient fables, conspiracy theories and pseudoscientific technobabble. Sounds like a perfect fit?
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Politicians have been clambering to the top extolling something that has yet to exist. Scientists are claiming a job boom that has yet to transpire. Much fantasy and speculation dominate the creation of Australia’s Space Agency, an... more
Politicians have been clambering to the top extolling something that has yet to exist. Scientists are claiming a job boom that has yet to transpire. Much fantasy and speculation dominate the creation of Australia’s Space Agency, an organisation that remains inchoate despite being launched on Monday by the appropriately named Michaelia Cash.
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Plans to develop the nation’s own space agency were formalised in the budget, after pleas from the industry to help launch Australia into a fast-growing sector. In the lead up to budget night, Flinders University space archaeologist Dr... more
Plans to develop the nation’s own space agency were formalised in the budget, after pleas from the industry to help launch Australia into a fast-growing sector. In the lead up to budget night, Flinders University space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman suggested it was time Australia tapped into the growing space industry, which she said is expected to be worth $3.5 trillion in the next 30 years.
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More details on the federal government’s commitment to establish an Australian Space Agency are expected in next week’s budget.
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A Chinese space station roughly the size of a school bus has crashed to Earth over the South Pacific, and “mostly burned up on re-entry”, Chinese state media says.
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Most of China’s broken eight-tonne space station will burn up, though there is a chance some parts will survive. Should you worry about getting hit?
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The Chinese space station Tiangong-1 is progressively getting closer to re-entry, and is predicted to crash somewhere on Earth around Easter. Because of the nature of the craft, and the secrecy surrounding it, scientists are unsure as to... more
The Chinese space station Tiangong-1 is progressively getting closer to re-entry, and is predicted to crash somewhere on Earth around Easter. Because of the nature of the craft, and the secrecy surrounding it, scientists are unsure as to where the craft will land. At the moment, the re-entry footprint covers southern Australia, and below, Australian experts answer the burning question; will I be hit by space debris?
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Known as Dr. Space Junk, Dr. Alice Gorman is a world-renowned expert on space archaeology. Dr. Gorman takes particular interest in the field of orbital debris and is passionate about the preservation of key objects that orbit our planet... more
Known as Dr. Space Junk, Dr. Alice Gorman is a world-renowned expert on space archaeology. Dr. Gorman takes particular interest in the field of orbital debris and is passionate about the preservation of key objects that orbit our planet for the sake of our cultural heritage in space.
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PIMPAMA, Australia, March 6, 2018 (Gilmour PR) – Meet G-70. This orbital-class rocket engine, developed by Gilmour Space Technologies (www.gspacetech.com), has successfully achieved 70,000 newtons (70 kilonewtons or 15,700 pounds-force)... more
PIMPAMA, Australia, March 6, 2018 (Gilmour PR) – Meet G-70. This orbital-class rocket engine, developed by Gilmour Space Technologies (www.gspacetech.com), has successfully achieved 70,000 newtons (70 kilonewtons or 15,700 pounds-force) of thrust in what could be the world’s largest successful test fire of a single-port hybrid rocket engine.
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When Australian researchers supervise the suicide of space’s greatest overachiever, it will continue a tradition of cosmic death dives.
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Want to have your ashes scattered in space? It's a beautiful concept, but this might not be the solution you're looking for. And, perhaps, we should also be careful about exactly how and where we do such a thing should we really start... more
Want to have your ashes scattered in space? It's a beautiful concept, but this might not be the solution you're looking for.
And, perhaps, we should also be careful about exactly how and where we do such a thing should we really start doing it properly.
And, perhaps, we should also be careful about exactly how and where we do such a thing should we really start doing it properly.
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If you somehow managed to find yourself floating above one of the most remote places on Earth, the vast blue surrounding you would be by far the least interesting part. Named Point Nemo, a reference to Jules Verne's Captain Nemo, this... more
If you somehow managed to find yourself floating above one of the most remote places on Earth, the vast blue surrounding you would be by far the least interesting part. Named Point Nemo, a reference to Jules Verne's Captain Nemo, this oceanic pole of inaccessibility lies in the South Pacific Ocean some 1,400 nautical miles from land. It is home to the largest spacecraft graveyard on the planet.
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You might want to keep your eyes on the sky over the next few months. A Chinese space lab, called Tiangong-1, is currently hurtling towards Earth and is expected to re-enter into our atmosphere sometime between now and early next year.
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After a 20 year mission, NASA’s spacecraft Cassini will meet its demise this week by plunging into Saturn’s atmosphere and burning up. With propellant running low, NASA scientists are concerned that the probe might accidentally crash into... more
After a 20 year mission, NASA’s spacecraft Cassini will meet its demise this week by plunging into Saturn’s atmosphere and burning up.
With propellant running low, NASA scientists are concerned that the probe might accidentally crash into one of Saturn’s nearby moons, which could contaminate it with Earthling bacteria stuck to the spacecraft. Instead, the spacecraft will be safely “disposed” in Saturn’s atmosphere
With propellant running low, NASA scientists are concerned that the probe might accidentally crash into one of Saturn’s nearby moons, which could contaminate it with Earthling bacteria stuck to the spacecraft. Instead, the spacecraft will be safely “disposed” in Saturn’s atmosphere
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NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is about to finish its 20 year mission exploring Saturn. The last 147 days have been spent spiralling between Saturn’s rings and the planet, with 22 dives into this uncharted territory over the last few months.... more
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is about to finish its 20 year mission exploring Saturn. The last 147 days have been spent spiralling between Saturn’s rings and the planet, with 22 dives into this uncharted territory over the last few months. The craft will enter Saturn’s atmosphere on Friday night, beaming back in real time, as much science as possible to the CSIRO team at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex before it meets its firey doom.
While NASA had extended the mission in the past, the operating scientists worried that, with propellant running low, the probe might otherwise have accidentally crashed into one of Saturn's nearby moons, contaminating it with Earthling bacteria stuck to the spacecraft.
While NASA had extended the mission in the past, the operating scientists worried that, with propellant running low, the probe might otherwise have accidentally crashed into one of Saturn's nearby moons, contaminating it with Earthling bacteria stuck to the spacecraft.
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Interview with Dr Alice Gorman, Flinders University. The South Australian and ACT Governments have signed a memorandum of understanding saying they want an Australian Space Agency. Victoria has not made any comment on the idea. Gorman... more
Interview with Dr Alice Gorman, Flinders University. The South Australian and ACT Governments have signed a memorandum of understanding saying they want an Australian Space Agency. Victoria has not made any comment on the idea. Gorman says Australia was the fourth nation in the world to launch a satellite and has played a leading role in the development of the global space industry. She says it is amazing more people aren't aware of this role and she feels a National Space Agency will help Australia return to this prominent role. Gorman says there are many aspects of everyday life that are dependent on satellites and Australia is currently very reliant on the satellites of other nations. She notes a big topic at the moment is small cube satellites, which are cheaper and easier to launch. Gorman says we need a more cohesive and all of Government approach in order to have a voice at an international level. Gorman explains her role as a space archaeologist. She notes Australia already plays a role in the monitoring and tracking of space junk in earth's orbit. Gorman says the company Neumann Space in Adelaide is working on a new system of propulsion that uses space junk as fuel.
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THE MOON IS SO LARGE, AND SO close to the Earth, that many astronomers consider the Earth-Moon system to be a "double planet". Of course, this is all on a cosmological scale. For actual humans, the Moon remains 384,400 kilometres away, at... more
THE MOON IS SO LARGE, AND SO close to the Earth, that many astronomers consider the Earth-Moon system to be a "double planet". Of course, this is all on a cosmological scale. For actual humans, the Moon remains 384,400 kilometres away, at the top of a gravity well that
isn't just difficult to escape, it's expensive to escape.
isn't just difficult to escape, it's expensive to escape.
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With satellites under threat from collisions, a former lieutenant is now focused on technology that can remove space debris.
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Parents are more experimental when it comes to naming their daughters, have a soft spot for royal names, and are partial to inspiration from pop stars, actors and television characters, new data reveals.
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GENE CERNAN is probably not a name you remember. Or even learnt. He was not the first man to step on the moon. But he was the last. The moon missions, from Apollo 11’s historic first landing in July 1969 to the final trip by Apollo 17 in... more
GENE CERNAN is probably not a name you remember. Or even learnt. He was not the first man to step on the moon. But he was the last. The moon missions, from Apollo 11’s historic first landing in July 1969 to the final trip by Apollo 17 in December 1972, are at the pinnacle of humanity’s achievements. Forty-five years later, these events — and the men and women at their heart — are already passing into legend.
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A review of Catalyst found staff had low morale and felt unsupported by management. The show will be completely reworked next year -- but the scientific community is split on whether that is a good idea, write Anthea Batsakis and Myriam... more
A review of Catalyst found staff had low morale and felt unsupported by management. The show will be completely reworked next year -- but the scientific community is split on whether that is a good idea, write Anthea Batsakis and Myriam Robin
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In 1977, in response to a fortuitous alignment of the outer planets of our solar system, NASA launched space probes Voyager 1 and 2 to tour the outer planets and transmit photographs back to Earth. In that capacity the Voyagers were... more
In 1977, in response to a fortuitous alignment of the outer planets of our solar system, NASA launched space probes Voyager 1 and 2 to tour the outer planets and transmit photographs back to Earth. In that capacity the Voyagers were spectacularly successful, sending tens of thousands of images of planets and moons back to Earth via radio. Both probes passed beyond the orbit of Pluto in the late 1980s, and they continue on toward interstellar space traveling at approximately 37,000 mph (almost 60,000 kph). They continue to transmit data back to Earth, and are expected to do so until around 2025, when their radioisotope thermoelectric generators will be exhausted, and unable to power any instruments.
Written by Alan Bellows, copyright © 31 October 2016. Alan is the founder/designer/head writer/managing editor of Damn Interesting. Special thanks to Michael Terry for help acquiring some of the audio and images, and to Dr. Alice Gorman and Anthony Michael Morena for bringing the identities of some of the previously uncredited artists to our attention.
Written by Alan Bellows, copyright © 31 October 2016. Alan is the founder/designer/head writer/managing editor of Damn Interesting. Special thanks to Michael Terry for help acquiring some of the audio and images, and to Dr. Alice Gorman and Anthony Michael Morena for bringing the identities of some of the previously uncredited artists to our attention.
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Last month, a new Kickstarter campaign was launched by Ozma Records to fund the first-ever release of a vinyl version of the Voyager Golden Record: the collection of sounds, music, images, and greetings that were launched into space on... more
Last month, a new Kickstarter campaign was launched by Ozma Records to fund the first-ever release of a vinyl version of the Voyager Golden Record: the collection of sounds, music, images, and greetings that were launched into space on the twin Voyager space probes in 1977.
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One spot in the ocean is further from land than any other, and it is a rather peculiar place.
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Enice Marsh remembers the black clouds of “poison stuff” that billowed from the northwest after British atomic bomb tests in the 1950s spread fallout across swaths of South Australia. Now a new kind of radioactivity could head to her... more
Enice Marsh remembers the black clouds of “poison stuff” that billowed from the northwest after British atomic bomb tests in the 1950s spread fallout across swaths of South Australia.
Now a new kind of radioactivity could head to her ancestral home in the remote Flinders Ranges — a nuclear waste dump.
Now a new kind of radioactivity could head to her ancestral home in the remote Flinders Ranges — a nuclear waste dump.
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Enice Marsh remembers the black clouds of "poison stuff" that billowed from the northwest after British atomic bomb tests in the 1950s spread fallout across swathes of South Australia. Now a new kind of radioactivity could head to her... more
Enice Marsh remembers the black clouds of "poison stuff" that billowed from the northwest after British atomic bomb tests in the 1950s spread fallout across swathes of South Australia.
Now a new kind of radioactivity could head to her ancestral home in the remote Flinders Ranges - a nuclear waste dump.
Now a new kind of radioactivity could head to her ancestral home in the remote Flinders Ranges - a nuclear waste dump.
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Different perspectives on land and identity fuel disagreement over a radioactive waste dump to be built near Aboriginal sites.
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These scholars are trying to create a system of ethics for-- someday-- exploring real space ruins.
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AFTER Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first walked on the surface of the moon in 1969, they planted the American flag firmly into the surface. While making for an iconic photograph, the act was purely symbolic as the 1967 Outer Space... more
AFTER Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first walked on the surface of the moon in 1969, they planted the American flag firmly into the surface.
While making for an iconic photograph, the act was purely symbolic as the 1967 Outer Space Treaty had declared “outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means”.
While making for an iconic photograph, the act was purely symbolic as the 1967 Outer Space Treaty had declared “outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means”.
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Since Australia is one of the leading exporter of commodities, the country has mining industry experience to be one of the leaders of space mining. The strong mining capabilities comes from 60 percent of mining-related innovations... more
Since Australia is one of the leading exporter of commodities, the country has mining industry experience to be one of the leaders of space mining. The strong mining capabilities comes from 60 percent of mining-related innovations happening in the country, Aussie mining experts say.
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AS the world’s mineral resources diminish, scientists are looking to the skies for the next big mining discovery. Asteroids contain an abundance of key resources and metals that are essential for terrestrial development and celestial... more
AS the world’s mineral resources diminish, scientists are looking to the skies for the next big mining discovery. Asteroids contain an abundance of key resources and metals that are essential for terrestrial development and celestial advancement, most of which are in decline on Earth. These include gold, silver, iridium, platinum and tungsten.
Alice Gorman from South Australia’s Flinders University said Australia was well placed to lead the way in the emerging industry, particularly in the areas of space law, policy and regulation.
Alice Gorman from South Australia’s Flinders University said Australia was well placed to lead the way in the emerging industry, particularly in the areas of space law, policy and regulation.
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Australia can play a significant role in the global race for developing automated off-Earth mining technology.
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It's hard to talk about space mining without thinking of Bruce Willis striding across an asteroid in Armageddon, and the scientists, engineers and lawyers at the forefront of space exploration know it.
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It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but thanks to recent technological advances, countries around the world are preparing for the possibility of mining asteroids as they rocket past Earth. Last year the US passed the "SPACE Act... more
It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but thanks to recent technological advances, countries around the world are preparing for the possibility of mining asteroids as they rocket past Earth. Last year the US passed the "SPACE Act of 2015" allowing its citizens, if able, to mine and sell asteroid resources, while earlier this month Luxembourg announced that it was trying to jump start an industrial sector to mine asteroid resources in space. But what are the possibilities and should Australia be preparing for lift-off too? Join us for this online briefing as experts explore just what's up there, why we want it and whether we should be preparing for future "space wars".
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Field researchers discuss online the challenges of having a period in remote areas.
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This weekend, the moon’s fortnightly rotation cycle turns China’s lunar rover Yutu (the Jade Rabbit) and its solar panels toward the sun once again … but whether the rover wakes up or not remains to be seen, as Yutu already announced its... more
This weekend, the moon’s fortnightly rotation cycle turns China’s lunar rover Yutu (the Jade Rabbit) and its solar panels toward the sun once again … but whether the rover wakes up or not remains to be seen, as Yutu already announced its impending death to Earth-based watchers with a series of first-person messages on January 25.
With India and China planning lunar surface missions, privately-funded space entrepreneurs competing for the US$40 million Google Lunar X Prize and discussions around lunar mining intensifying, working out what to do with our moon’s... more
With India and China planning lunar surface missions, privately-funded space entrepreneurs competing for the US$40 million Google Lunar X Prize and discussions around lunar mining intensifying, working out what to do with our moon’s cultural heritage is becoming urgent.
Now that the US government is back in business, all “non-essential” services will resume. For 15 days we went without NASA’s full operation, US Antarctic research and federally-funded clinical studies. Even this relatively short time... more
Now that the US government is back in business, all “non-essential” services will resume. For 15 days we went without NASA’s full operation, US Antarctic research and federally-funded clinical studies. Even this relatively short time frame will see a science fallout that could last for years.
In 2003 I began work on a research project that has taken me to places that I never imagined: the cultural heritage of space exploration. Now I am determined to bring to light the secrets at the heart of the Space Age.
Becoming a NASA astronaut or going to Mars is often the first thing people think about when it comes to having a space career. But, while there are more astronaut training opportunities than ever, actual openings for space travel are... more
Becoming a NASA astronaut or going to Mars is often the first thing people think about when it comes to having a space career. But, while there are more astronaut training opportunities than ever, actual openings for space travel are still limited. The truth is there's so much more on offer when it comes to space jobs. And it's worth considering some of the Earth-based space jobs now available, many of which are here because of cheaper satellite technology and a boom in private space industry funding. Space flight controller Science ABC Science There are a lot more space jobs on the ground than you think (NASA)
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Continuously occupied since early November 2000, the International Space Station (ISS) is being viewed as an archaeological site.
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The Institute of Advanced Studies welcomes applications in response to this Call for Papers for a conference entitled 'Towards an Anthropology of Space: Orientating Cosmological Futures Conference' to be held on 18 September 2017. The... more
The Institute of Advanced Studies welcomes applications in response to this Call for Papers for a conference entitled 'Towards an Anthropology of Space: Orientating Cosmological Futures Conference' to be held on 18 September 2017. The deadline for applications is 22 May 2017.
An epochal ‘move to space’ (Olivier 2015) has been articulated by various commentators as a crucial historical turn for all mankind, from Sputnik, through the Apollo missions to the recent realigning of NASA’s primary mission from Space Exploration to Space Settlement (Augustine Commission 2009). The effect of images of Earth from Space has produced ‘globe talk’ (Lazier 2011:606) where horizons of social worlds are now planetary in scale. These universalising rhetorics nonetheless also hide the hegemony of normative frames of reference used to define humanity’s ‘final frontier’, along with the concept of ‘humanity’ itself.
David Valentine (2012) describes how Space demarks a spatial edge used to distinguish the limits of the globe, which can be both revealed and transcended by techno-science. Space exploration then, is able to act as an ‘empty signifier’ (Ibid) holding the promise of a spatial fix to the future of humanity whilst simultaneously delimiting this same future as it masks the endurance of the forms of relations it claims to transcend. As Debbora Battaglia suggests, the figure of the extra-terrestrial is a symptom of failures to critically understanding the conditions of social life (2005:9), perhaps symptomatic of an inability to conceive of an adequate ‘constitutive outside’ (Butler 1993), which is often a euphemism for a political or social ‘other’.
The binary that extra-terrestrial implies may thus also be contested ethnographically. For example, Suzanne Blier (1987) has observed how dwellings of the Batammaliba track the passage of celestial ancestors through various light apertures whilst Lisa Messeri (2016) notes how Mongolian shamans have been visiting space for many years. Authors such as Alice Gorman (2005), Peter Redfield (2002) and others note how the local world of Space Centres, rocket launch sites or telescopes assume ‘translocal’, often neo-colonial, dreams (Redfield 2002:808) effacing local concerns. And whilst Soviets and Americans positioned Space as a location to enact utopian futures, different kinds of utopian ideological expansions may also occur through modern space narratives in places such as Ghana, China and Brazil.
What can we make of the new space race ethnographically? How would the consideration of relations between earth and off-earth life enable a fruitful theoretical development of social science enquiry? And, ultimately, in what ways can Anthropology think through the political, the material and the transcendent dimensions of an epochal turn to Space? In this workshop we will investigate the heuristic devices used in the creation of new forms of connectedness and separation that a relation with the extra-terrestrial could enable.
Please submit abstracts of 300 words for papers of 15-20 minutes in length by 22/05/2017 to Dr David Jeevendrampillai (david.jeevendrampillai.10@ucl.ac.uk) and Dr Matan Shapiro (shapirom@post.bgu.ac.il). We welcome a variety of approaches to the ‘move to space’ but particularly welcome those which consider the theological/cosmological, the material and bodily, and the political. Initially we plan to have three sessions along these lines with a senior respondent in each and a roundtable at the end of the day. We aim to work the papers into a special issue journal.
An epochal ‘move to space’ (Olivier 2015) has been articulated by various commentators as a crucial historical turn for all mankind, from Sputnik, through the Apollo missions to the recent realigning of NASA’s primary mission from Space Exploration to Space Settlement (Augustine Commission 2009). The effect of images of Earth from Space has produced ‘globe talk’ (Lazier 2011:606) where horizons of social worlds are now planetary in scale. These universalising rhetorics nonetheless also hide the hegemony of normative frames of reference used to define humanity’s ‘final frontier’, along with the concept of ‘humanity’ itself.
David Valentine (2012) describes how Space demarks a spatial edge used to distinguish the limits of the globe, which can be both revealed and transcended by techno-science. Space exploration then, is able to act as an ‘empty signifier’ (Ibid) holding the promise of a spatial fix to the future of humanity whilst simultaneously delimiting this same future as it masks the endurance of the forms of relations it claims to transcend. As Debbora Battaglia suggests, the figure of the extra-terrestrial is a symptom of failures to critically understanding the conditions of social life (2005:9), perhaps symptomatic of an inability to conceive of an adequate ‘constitutive outside’ (Butler 1993), which is often a euphemism for a political or social ‘other’.
The binary that extra-terrestrial implies may thus also be contested ethnographically. For example, Suzanne Blier (1987) has observed how dwellings of the Batammaliba track the passage of celestial ancestors through various light apertures whilst Lisa Messeri (2016) notes how Mongolian shamans have been visiting space for many years. Authors such as Alice Gorman (2005), Peter Redfield (2002) and others note how the local world of Space Centres, rocket launch sites or telescopes assume ‘translocal’, often neo-colonial, dreams (Redfield 2002:808) effacing local concerns. And whilst Soviets and Americans positioned Space as a location to enact utopian futures, different kinds of utopian ideological expansions may also occur through modern space narratives in places such as Ghana, China and Brazil.
What can we make of the new space race ethnographically? How would the consideration of relations between earth and off-earth life enable a fruitful theoretical development of social science enquiry? And, ultimately, in what ways can Anthropology think through the political, the material and the transcendent dimensions of an epochal turn to Space? In this workshop we will investigate the heuristic devices used in the creation of new forms of connectedness and separation that a relation with the extra-terrestrial could enable.
Please submit abstracts of 300 words for papers of 15-20 minutes in length by 22/05/2017 to Dr David Jeevendrampillai (david.jeevendrampillai.10@ucl.ac.uk) and Dr Matan Shapiro (shapirom@post.bgu.ac.il). We welcome a variety of approaches to the ‘move to space’ but particularly welcome those which consider the theological/cosmological, the material and bodily, and the political. Initially we plan to have three sessions along these lines with a senior respondent in each and a roundtable at the end of the day. We aim to work the papers into a special issue journal.
Research Interests:
A critical web of avant garde trajectories can be traced through an attempt at recovering the social body through poetry. For some this was a return to speech rhythms, through disordering of conventional syntax, lineation based on the... more
A critical web of avant garde trajectories can be traced through an attempt at recovering the social body through poetry. For some this was a return to speech rhythms, through disordering of conventional syntax, lineation based on the breath. For others it was a movement from song, to sound, to silence, to noise. The list goes on: Action poetics to social practice. Image to concrete. Documentary to investigative poetics to critical poetics. Data to information to code to intermedia and hacking. These trajectories more often than not have seemed to be radical gestures. The body and its many sensing apparatuses thrown against the machinery of warfare, the machinery of the repressive state, and the machinery of empire.
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Address by Professor Mick Dodson
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Unmanned? Robotic? Unpiloted? Uncrewed? Unoccupied? Unhumaned? Drone? Autonomous? Crewless?
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Dr Alice Gorman gave a unique account of the importance of cultural heritage on the Moon and the implications of Moon dust, which, surprisingly, is actually a pretty big problem.
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Debris plot by NASA. A computer-generated image of objects in Earth orbit that are currently being tracked. Approximately 95% of the objects in this illustration are orbital debris, i.e., not functional satellites. The dots represent the... more
Debris plot by NASA. A computer-generated image of objects in Earth orbit that are currently being tracked. Approximately 95% of the objects in this illustration are orbital debris, i.e., not functional satellites. The dots represent the current location of each item. The orbital debris dots are scaled according to the image size of the graphic to optimize their visibility and are not scaled to Earth. Public domain image by NASA. Part of this attention stems from the interest in an complicated type of waste (radioactive, sometimes tiny, heterogenous) in an extreme environment. But most attention comes from practical needs: orbital debris is becoming more numerous and can damage space instruments, the satellites and other infrastructure critical for communication, transportation, energy, and military networks. It can also come down to earth and pose a threat to people, property, and ecosystems. This bibliography is a primer of the main texts on space trash from a variety of points of view, types of institutions, and disciplinary perspectives. If there are others that you think should be added, please let us know in the comment section.
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This is a broad collection of essays on space archaeology, which ambitiously seeks to create an integrated approach to sites and materials relating to the exploration of space on the Earth, in orbit, on the Moon, and further afield both... more
This is a broad collection of essays on space archaeology, which ambitiously seeks to create an integrated approach to sites and materials relating to the exploration of space on the Earth, in orbit, on the Moon, and further afield both in and beyond the confines of our solar system. Its subjects range from the iconic and frequently idolized, such as the space shuttle, to the secretive, hi-tech, and disposable, such as decommissioned research centres. Its contributors—who are among the foremost scholars in the field of space archaeology—have backgrounds in anthropology, journalism, applied physics, architecture, archaeology, conservation science, museum studies, and cultural resource management. The book not only provides a most useful introduction to the breadth and variety of the subject, but also goes much further in exploring potential future directions.
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It has been a very long time since my last blog post but I've been making a book, cycling across Europe, and had little to say in long-form. This post is about language - particularly language commonly used in astronomy/space contexts.... more
It has been a very long time since my last blog post but I've been making a book, cycling across Europe, and had little to say in long-form.
This post is about language - particularly language commonly used in astronomy/space contexts. On Monday, I read a very useful article about inclusive language by Dr Alice Gorman (@drspacejunk). It specifically talks about phrases such as "manned spaceflight", "mankind", "manmade", and "unmanned" and alternatives such as "human spaceflight", "humanity", "artificial", "robotic".
This post is about language - particularly language commonly used in astronomy/space contexts. On Monday, I read a very useful article about inclusive language by Dr Alice Gorman (@drspacejunk). It specifically talks about phrases such as "manned spaceflight", "mankind", "manmade", and "unmanned" and alternatives such as "human spaceflight", "humanity", "artificial", "robotic".
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NASA has an Orbital Debris Program Office dedicated to the question of space debris. The featured image for this post comes from this office, and is an image of debris in LEO. LEO “stands for low Earth orbit and is the region of space... more
NASA has an Orbital Debris Program Office dedicated to the question of space debris. The featured image for this post comes from this office, and is an image of debris in LEO. LEO “stands for low Earth orbit and is the region of space within 2,000 km of the Earth’s surface. It is the most concentrated area for orbital debris.” Much of the space science on orbital debris considers how to mitigate the problem, such as this proposal to remove orbital debris with lasers. However, there are other ways to approach the study of this debris. Below are two of the social scientific approaches that I’ve come across.
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In 2010, writing in Westerly, Carmel Lawrence despaired about the lack of science writing in the collection of 'best non-fiction' of the year that she had been asked to review. It wasn't, she concluded, for want of material. Science... more
In 2010, writing in Westerly, Carmel Lawrence despaired about the lack of science writing in the collection of 'best non-fiction' of the year that she had been asked to review. It wasn't, she concluded, for want of material. Science writing had undergone a huge resurgence in popularity at the turn of the twenty-first century. With no major anthologies of Australian science writing, nor a regular prize, it was difficult to gauge how well the genre was doing in Australia at the time. Were we missing great science writers like Primo Levi, Rachel Carson, or Carl Sagan? Was it just that such factual writing, in Australia, is not seen as sufficiently literary, or that literary writing – the beautiful, moving, engaging – is not regarded as sufficiently objective to be scientific?
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We are currently at the end of an era. It is an historical time period that is rapidly disappearing – at 14.45km per second, to be precise. This week is the last in history before humanity got a good look at Pluto with the New Horizons... more
We are currently at the end of an era. It is an historical time period that is rapidly disappearing – at 14.45km per second, to be precise. This week is the last in history before humanity got a good look at Pluto with the New Horizons probe. Here at Almost Archaeology, we are terribly excited about this, and will be tweeting out space archaeology all week to mark the occasion
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After more than ten years in space and four years orbiting Mercury, Nasa's Messenger mission is set to come to an explosive end. Possibly the craft will be obliterated, but it will certainly make a dent – and future space travelling... more
After more than ten years in space and four years orbiting Mercury, Nasa's Messenger mission is set to come to an explosive end. Possibly the craft will be obliterated, but it will certainly make a dent – and future space travelling archaeologists might just wonder what it was that made that crater. Or maybe not.....Space Archaeology already exists.
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Last, but actually one of my favourites, is the talk on Space archaeology by Alice Gorman of Flinders University, Australia, who has published extensively on the cultural landscape of space, the cultural heritage inherent in orbital... more
Last, but actually one of my favourites, is the talk on Space archaeology by Alice Gorman of Flinders University, Australia, who has published extensively on the cultural landscape of space, the cultural heritage inherent in orbital debris and other aspects of the archaeology of space exploration. In her view, disused satellites and other orbiting debris are not space junk, but important cultural artifacts which can and will provide historical information on the story of human endeavors in space.
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In this post I will be giving an overview of a conference-style presentation given by a researcher in anthropology. The purpose is to learn about their particular approach and through an analysis begin to decipher what works and perhaps... more
In this post I will be giving an overview of a conference-style presentation given by a researcher in anthropology. The purpose is to learn about their particular approach and through an analysis begin to decipher what works and perhaps what doesn’t work to engage a particular audience. For this exercise I am looking at a talk given at a TEDx event titled “Space Archaeology: Alice Gorman at TedxSydney”
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Dr. Alice Gorman is a space archaeologist at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, and the author of an excellent blog, Space Age Archaeology, where she posts about extra-terrestrial mining, abandoned Venusian probes, space beer,... more
Dr. Alice Gorman is a space archaeologist at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, and the author of an excellent blog, Space Age Archaeology, where she posts about extra-terrestrial mining, abandoned Venusian probes, space beer, and more.
As part of Food For Thinkers, Gorman has turned her attention to the edible culture of the space age, with a post about "the influence space exploration has had on terrestrial food." In particular, she is interested in the history of food shaped like Sputnik: recipes and dishes that, she writes "can be regarded as a sort of performance, half way between tangible and intangible heritage, as they exist only in the moment of their manufacture and disappear in the act of consumption."
As part of Food For Thinkers, Gorman has turned her attention to the edible culture of the space age, with a post about "the influence space exploration has had on terrestrial food." In particular, she is interested in the history of food shaped like Sputnik: recipes and dishes that, she writes "can be regarded as a sort of performance, half way between tangible and intangible heritage, as they exist only in the moment of their manufacture and disappear in the act of consumption."
A favorite of mine is Archaeology magazine, which always has something in it worth reading. Modern archaeology is by no means just a matter of digging up old bones and potsherds. There is, for example, the burgeoning field of outer-space... more
A favorite of mine is Archaeology magazine, which always has something in it worth reading. Modern archaeology is by no means just a matter of digging up old bones and potsherds. There is, for example, the burgeoning field of outer-space archaeology. Did you know, for example, that Vanguard 1, the U.S.A.’s second artificial satellite, launched in March 1958, is still in orbit, and, being no longer operational, bears the coveted title “oldest piece of space junk”?
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The new magazine Monocle has been getting loads of press lately, from both lovers and haters; and while I can't necessarily say that I'm one or the other, I will admit to erring on the side of enthusiasm. There's some great stuff in... more
The new magazine Monocle has been getting loads of press lately, from both lovers and haters; and while I can't necessarily say that I'm one or the other, I will admit to erring on the side of enthusiasm.
There's some great stuff in there, and it's hard not to get excited.
There's some great stuff in there, and it's hard not to get excited.
Australian space scientist Dr Alice Gorman will be in Vienna to participate in a roundtable on “Propulsion: On Changing Futures” at the University of Applied Arts from 20-22 October. Dr Gorman will be presenting on “Haunted Houses at... more
Australian space scientist Dr Alice Gorman will be in Vienna to participate in a roundtable on “Propulsion: On Changing Futures” at the University of Applied Arts from 20-22 October. Dr Gorman will be presenting on “Haunted Houses at Hypervelocity: Orbital Futures” to discuss emerging technologies that might provide new visions to propel us into a future space. Dr Gorman is a pioneer in the field of space archaeology. A senior lecturer at the Department of Archaeology at Flinders University, Adelaide, she is also active on social media tweeting as @drspacejunk and blogging at Space Age Archeology.
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A delegation of leading space industry experts from Australia will be in Bengaluru from 1-3 September 2016 for the 5th Bangalore Space Expo 2016 to be held at BIEC, Bengaluru.
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Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, is calling on all Australians to get to know the names of at least five living Australian scientists during National Science Week.
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The critically acclaimed annual arts conference takes place March 16 to 18, 2016 during the tenth edition of Art Dubai, and is free and open to the public. The tenth edition of Art Dubai’s Global Art Forum sees 50 international and... more
The critically acclaimed annual arts conference takes place March 16 to 18, 2016 during the tenth edition of Art Dubai, and is free and open to the public. The tenth edition of Art Dubai’s Global Art Forum sees 50 international and regional thought-leaders explore how the future has been imagined and shaped through a series of 32 live talks, panels and performances
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Opportunities in space exploration and earth observation; Space Innovation Congress is the UK’s new space industry conference and expo, on April 7-8, 2016 at St Paul’s, Aldersgate in London.
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A local expert in the emerging field of space archaeology will be a guest speaker at an international heritage conference to be held in Adelaide over the next few days.
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Space archaeologist, Dr Alice Gorman, will attend the screening of In the Shadow of the Moon to provide commentary on the film and to answer questions from the audience.
On the eve of the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s space flight, Flinders University space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman reflects on the significance of that feat – with an Australian twist.
A group of space archaeologists are investigating the material culture (remains) of space exploration at the Orroral Valley NASA Tracking Station in the Namadgi National Park thanks to an ACT Government Heritage grant.
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The latest debate in space exploration focuses on the need for countries involved in the race into the future to reflect upon the legacies of the past where empires such as Britain and France exploited their colonies to enable space... more
The latest debate in space exploration focuses on the need for countries involved in the race into the future to reflect upon the legacies of the past where empires such as Britain and France exploited their colonies to enable space experiments.
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A proposal to give Woomera’s space facilities a new lease of life has been strongly endorsed by a Flinders University academic involved in the preservation of historic sites associated with the “space race”. Dr Alice Gorman said that... more
A proposal to give Woomera’s space facilities a new lease of life has been strongly endorsed by a Flinders University academic involved in the preservation of historic sites associated with the “space race”. Dr Alice Gorman said that using Woomera as a spaceport for the growing space tourist industry would help to preserve its unique heritage values.
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An Australian archaeologisgt who has become an international authority on the cultural significance of space-age hardware is travelling to the Guyana Space Centre in South American to re-establish the historic link between it and Woomera... more
An Australian archaeologisgt who has become an international authority on the cultural significance of space-age hardware is travelling to the Guyana Space Centre in South American to re-establish the historic link between it and Woomera in Central Australia.
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As an undergraduate in the 1980s, I took French translation classes with the famous Professor Colin Duckworth at Melbourne University. I was less impressed then than I am now at his story of sleeping in Voltaire’s own bed (sans Voltaire,... more
As an undergraduate in the 1980s, I took French translation classes with the famous Professor Colin Duckworth at Melbourne University. I was less impressed then than I am now at his story of sleeping in Voltaire’s own bed (sans Voltaire, needless to say); and we all did grow rather
tired of hearing about Samuel Beckett, on whom he was a world authority. I had left university by the time he started acting in Neighbours; probably that would have impressed me most of all.
tired of hearing about Samuel Beckett, on whom he was a world authority. I had left university by the time he started acting in Neighbours; probably that would have impressed me most of all.
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Since the 1960s, the question has changed from “Is archaeology a science?” to “Can we do an archaeology of science?” If you ask Michael Schiffer, the answer is a resounding yes.
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At the 2007 New Ground Conference in Sydney, Annie Bickford posed an interesting question at the end of a session on contemporary archaeology. After hearing papers on post-war urban architecture, depression work camps, modern graffiti,... more
At the 2007 New Ground Conference in Sydney, Annie Bickford posed an interesting question at the end of a session on contemporary archaeology. After hearing papers on post-war urban architecture, depression work camps, modern graffiti, abandoned offices and orbital space stations, she asked “In what way is this different to historical archaeology?”
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The idea of wilderness is deeply engrained in the American psyche. Rugged, mountainous, verdant landscapes are seen as an expression of American national identity—a pioneering frontier spirit that looks to the untouched landscape to see... more
The idea of wilderness is deeply engrained in the American psyche. Rugged, mountainous, verdant landscapes are seen as an expression of American national identity—a pioneering frontier spirit that looks to the untouched landscape to see the mind of God.
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What are the grand challenges for archaeology? Last year, a group of mostly US researchers (Kintigh et al 2014) published the results of a survey conducted in order to find out. The result was a series of general research areas and... more
What are the grand challenges for archaeology? Last year, a group of mostly US researchers (Kintigh et al 2014) published the results of a survey conducted in order to find out. The result was a series of general research areas and specific questions, most of which are core issues in what we do, but with some inevitable blind spots and holes.
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Doug Rocks-MacQueen writes: We have finally reached the end of the #blogarch blogging carnival. The SAA session on blogging is at the end of the month so this will be the last of the #blogarch carnival, for now. It has been an amazing run.
Doug Rocks-MacQueen writes: At this year’s SAA conference there is going to be an amazing Blogging in Archaeology session. It has been a few years since there has been one. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend the session and I know a... more
Doug Rocks-MacQueen writes: At this year’s SAA conference there is going to be an amazing Blogging in Archaeology session. It has been a few years since there has been one. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend the session and I know a couple of other archaeology bloggers who can’t either. My way of contributing is to widen the participation by hosting a blogging carnival (what’s a blogging carnival, click here) on archaeology and blogging. This was done for the last blogging session by Colleen and this is inspired by her work.
My colleague Mick Morrison has posed an interesting question, as part of his hosting of the long-running blog carnival Four Stone Hearth this week. He asks: "What are the marginal issues or stories in anthropology that you think... more
My colleague Mick Morrison has posed an interesting question, as part of his hosting of the long-running blog carnival Four Stone Hearth this week. He asks: "What are the marginal issues or stories in anthropology that you think deserve more attention?"
I suspect my primary answer to this would surprise no-one at all. (But just to be clear about this, it would be the material culture and heritage of space industry and exploration).
I suspect my primary answer to this would surprise no-one at all. (But just to be clear about this, it would be the material culture and heritage of space industry and exploration).
Food for Thinkers is a week-long, distributed, online conversation looking at food-writing from as wide and unusual a variety of perspectives as possible. Between January 18 and January 23, 2011, more than thirty food and non-food writers... more
Food for Thinkers is a week-long, distributed, online conversation looking at food-writing from as wide and unusual a variety of perspectives as possible. Between January 18 and January 23, 2011, more than thirty food and non-food writers will respond to a question posed by GOOD's newly-launched Food hub: What does—or could, or even should—it mean to write about food today?.
The designation of 100s of artefacts left at the site of Tranquility Base after the historic Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 is a great step forward in recognising the distinct cultural heritage of space exploration. However, it raises... more
The designation of 100s of artefacts left at the site of Tranquility Base after the historic Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 is a great step forward in recognising the distinct cultural heritage of space exploration.
However, it raises some interesting issues about how and why we want to protect these places. Among the items that form part of the archaeological site of Tranquility Base, it’s not only objects like the controversial US flag and various pieces of scientific equipment that are important – it’s also the boot prints left by the astronauts, furrows and pits where they took samples, and the traverses that are evidence of how they moved around the site.
However, it raises some interesting issues about how and why we want to protect these places. Among the items that form part of the archaeological site of Tranquility Base, it’s not only objects like the controversial US flag and various pieces of scientific equipment that are important – it’s also the boot prints left by the astronauts, furrows and pits where they took samples, and the traverses that are evidence of how they moved around the site.
Cable ties were originally invented in the late 1950s to prevent aircraft assembly workers’ from hand injuries when bundling and tying cables. This project examines the trajectory of cable ties, from specialised aerospace applications to... more
Cable ties were originally invented in the late 1950s to prevent aircraft assembly workers’ from hand injuries when bundling and tying cables. This project examines the trajectory of cable ties, from specialised aerospace applications to their myriad uses in everyday life. Cable tie development echoes other technological innovations in contemporary material culture. To trace their movement from specialised use to everyday life, cable ties are investigated in relation to the Cold War and the associated ‘space race’, along with other military imperatives.
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Talk: The Abandoned Solar System
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It's an age-old mystery that's long frustrated scientists, yet one that could be partially answered, subjectively speaking, when a hi-tech festival opens in Adelaide during July.
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Dr Alice Gorman presents April's Talking History lecture - From Venus to Voyager: What Space Junk says about Humans beyond Earth Starting with the Vanguard 1 satellite, the oldest human object in space and 60 years old this year, Dr... more
Dr Alice Gorman presents April's Talking History lecture - From Venus to Voyager: What Space Junk says about Humans beyond Earth
Starting with the Vanguard 1 satellite, the oldest human object in space and 60 years old this year, Dr Space Junk takes us on an archaeological survey of the solar system which finishes with one of the most recent artefacts in space – Elon Musk’s red sports car.
Starting with the Vanguard 1 satellite, the oldest human object in space and 60 years old this year, Dr Space Junk takes us on an archaeological survey of the solar system which finishes with one of the most recent artefacts in space – Elon Musk’s red sports car.
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Don't miss this exciting opportunity to hear former NASA astronauts Tony Antonelli (Chief Technologist, Lockheed Martin) and Dr Sandra Magnus (Executive Director, The American Institute Aeronautics and Astronautics) talk about their time... more
Don't miss this exciting opportunity to hear former NASA astronauts Tony Antonelli (Chief Technologist, Lockheed Martin) and Dr Sandra Magnus (Executive Director, The American Institute Aeronautics and Astronautics) talk about their time in space. 3rd panel member to be confirmed soon.
Discussion facilitated by Dr Alice Gorman, Space Archaeologist at Flinders University
Discussion facilitated by Dr Alice Gorman, Space Archaeologist at Flinders University
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The science lectures include space archaeologist, Dr Alice Gorman, on the impact of the space race on society and astrophysicist, Jules Harnett, talking about the 747 jet NASA turned into a flying observatory. Dr Harnett was born at... more
The science lectures include space archaeologist, Dr Alice Gorman, on the impact of the space race on society and astrophysicist, Jules Harnett, talking about the 747 jet NASA turned into a flying observatory. Dr Harnett was born at Penguin and has worked at NASA and all around the world.
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Dr Gorman is a senior lecturer in Archaeology at Flinders University. She is also an internationally recognised leader in the emerging field of Space Archaeology. She first spoke to our group in 2012. Since the first Sputnik was launched... more
Dr Gorman is a senior lecturer in Archaeology at Flinders University. She is also an internationally recognised leader in the emerging field of Space Archaeology. She first spoke to our group in 2012.
Since the first Sputnik was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, human beings have sent a vast amount of material into space. Our fragile planet is now encircled by a swarm of high velocity debris, ranging in size from flecks of paint, to old satellites, spent rockets, and not forgetting a large space station. Alice will tell us about this exciting new branch of Archaeology.
Since the first Sputnik was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, human beings have sent a vast amount of material into space. Our fragile planet is now encircled by a swarm of high velocity debris, ranging in size from flecks of paint, to old satellites, spent rockets, and not forgetting a large space station. Alice will tell us about this exciting new branch of Archaeology.
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Invited guest speaker, National Science Week
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In 1966, the Apollo moon landings were still in the future and the Cold War was freezing. Communism and capitalism battled for control of space but the frontline was also in the living rooms and bedrooms of domestic space, as gender... more
In 1966, the Apollo moon landings were still in the future and the Cold War was freezing. Communism and capitalism battled for control of space but the frontline was also in the living rooms and bedrooms of domestic space, as gender relations underwent a seismic shift. Would going to the Moon open the doors to utopia, or simply expand the realm of Earthly foibles? Dr Alice Gorman explores this question through a lunar comedy starring Jerry Lewis, Connie Stevens and Anita Ekberg.
A screening of Way… Way Out, as well as drinks and canapes, will follow Dr Gorman’s introduction.
A screening of Way… Way Out, as well as drinks and canapes, will follow Dr Gorman’s introduction.
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8pm this Friday, 1st July, we are lucky to have Dr Alice Gorman from Flinders University in South Australia coming to talk to us about "Danger Will Robinson! The cultural heritage of space junk".
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On this annual "Day of Archaeology" our very special guest speaker is Dr Alice Gorman, an internationally-recognised leader in the emerging field of space archaeology.
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Dr Alice Gorman is based at the Department of Archaeology at Flinders University and is regarded as a pioneer in the field of space archaeology. She conducts research into the archaeology of orbital debris, terrestrial launch sites, and... more
Dr Alice Gorman is based at the Department of Archaeology at Flinders University and is regarded as a pioneer in the field of space archaeology. She conducts research into the archaeology of orbital debris, terrestrial launch sites, and satellite tracking stations, and helps to keep tabs on the tens of thousands of man-made objects that currently circle our planet, objects which vary in size from tiny paint fragments to defunct satellites and space stations.
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Science in the Pub will step away from the here and and now and its usual STEM focus on 1 April when Flinders staff members Dr Alice Gorman and Professor Julian Meyrick feature in a public discussion on the topic of The Future: time and... more
Science in the Pub will step away from the here and and now and its usual STEM focus on 1 April when Flinders staff members Dr Alice Gorman and Professor Julian Meyrick feature in a public discussion on the topic of The Future: time and its consequences.
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Alice in Space Wonderland: Alice Gorman joins Real Scientists. Curation of @realscientists 14 - 20 June 2015
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Throughout human history, fewer than 550 humans have been to space. Is all this about to change? What are the potential political, cultural and environmental impacts of space travel, funded and organised by corporations whose interests... more
Throughout human history, fewer than 550 humans have been to space. Is all this about to change? What are the potential political, cultural and environmental impacts of space travel, funded and organised by corporations whose interests are commercially led? And could giant leaps into space result in smaller steps for mankind here on earth, when it comes to fixing the problem of climate change?
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Through new technologies, creative and scientific fields are coming together to shake how we look at our world. Tracking shooting stars and flying through the nostril of a 400 million- year-old fossil: bold new visions of science will... more
Through new technologies, creative and scientific fields are coming together to shake how we look at our world. Tracking shooting stars and flying through the nostril of a 400 million- year-old fossil: bold new visions of science will take your breath away. Professors Tim Senden, Phil Bland and John Long explore how the worlds of maths, physics, biology and the movies combine to create radical new ways of understanding. Hosted by Dr Alice Gorman.
SpaceUp is a space-related unconference where the attendants decide the topics to be discussed and are able to lead their own sessions. There have been more than thirty SpaceUps in several locations worldwide, and Australia has hosted one... more
SpaceUp is a space-related unconference where the attendants decide the topics to be discussed and are able to lead their own sessions. There have been more than thirty SpaceUps in several locations worldwide, and Australia has hosted one for the very first time. The unconference took place on Sunday, 28th of September 2014, at the Flinders University Victoria Square Campus, in Adelaide.
Several special guests attended the unconference to take part in its sessions. These special guests were selected for their unique backgrounds in order to ensure that different perspectives on space research and exploration are present in the event.
Several special guests attended the unconference to take part in its sessions. These special guests were selected for their unique backgrounds in order to ensure that different perspectives on space research and exploration are present in the event.
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When you picture an archaeologist, you're most likely to imagine them looking down - digging into history, unearthing and sifting through evidence of previous life on Earth. It's less likely that you'll picture them looking up - way... more
When you picture an archaeologist, you're most likely to imagine them looking down - digging into history, unearthing and sifting through evidence of previous life on Earth. It's less likely that you'll picture them looking up - way beyond Earth and deep into space - but that's just what internationally recognised space archaeologist Alice Gorman does on a daily basis.
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Streaming of SLOOH coverage of the Transit of Venus with live commentary by Dr Alice Gorman.
What is space archaeology? Dr Alice Gorman introduces In the Shadow of the Moon.
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Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing
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For millennia, Homo sapiens have looked up at the stars—but only recently have we started to consider what it will be like to live among them.
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This is the pilot episode of The 9pm Probe, a long-form interview with an interesting person. Today, space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman aka Dr Space Junk from Flinders University in South Australia. As some of you may know, I was a bit... more
This is the pilot episode of The 9pm Probe, a long-form interview with an interesting person. Today, space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman aka Dr Space Junk from Flinders University in South Australia.
As some of you may know, I was a bit of an enthusiastic Space Age kid, so this is a very self-indulgent conversation.
We talk about: How the live TV images of the Apollo 11 mission were really quite dull; Vanguard 1, currently the oldest human satellite in space; how civilian and military space programs have always been closely intertwined; citizen science in space; a brief mention of the Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL); CORONA and the movie Ice Station Zebra; the International Geophysical Year (IGY); the International Polar Year; why people get angry about the concept of space archaeology; Australia’s early involvement in the Space Age; the Woomera test range; the Zuni rocket; WRESAT; the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO), the forerunner to the European Space Agency (ESA); rocket playgrounds; Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Rocket Man”; the inevitability of Uranus jokes; the start of the Second Space Age; our shared love of the Soviet technological aesthetic; the cube-sat revolution; the recent launch of rogue satellites; space tourism; Australia’s planned new space agency; SpaceX’s recent work, including firing a Tesla into space; Rocket Lab’s Humanity Star; the live video feed from the International Space Station; the Aboriginal use of bottle glass after European colonisation; and colonial processes in space.
As some of you may know, I was a bit of an enthusiastic Space Age kid, so this is a very self-indulgent conversation.
We talk about: How the live TV images of the Apollo 11 mission were really quite dull; Vanguard 1, currently the oldest human satellite in space; how civilian and military space programs have always been closely intertwined; citizen science in space; a brief mention of the Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL); CORONA and the movie Ice Station Zebra; the International Geophysical Year (IGY); the International Polar Year; why people get angry about the concept of space archaeology; Australia’s early involvement in the Space Age; the Woomera test range; the Zuni rocket; WRESAT; the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO), the forerunner to the European Space Agency (ESA); rocket playgrounds; Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Rocket Man”; the inevitability of Uranus jokes; the start of the Second Space Age; our shared love of the Soviet technological aesthetic; the cube-sat revolution; the recent launch of rogue satellites; space tourism; Australia’s planned new space agency; SpaceX’s recent work, including firing a Tesla into space; Rocket Lab’s Humanity Star; the live video feed from the International Space Station; the Aboriginal use of bottle glass after European colonisation; and colonial processes in space.
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The rich archaeological records of human space exploration can tell us much about human behavior, geopolitics, and the history of science and technology. In this episode we are joined by Alice Gorman of Flinders University in South... more
The rich archaeological records of human space exploration can tell us much about human behavior, geopolitics, and the history of science and technology. In this episode we are joined by Alice Gorman of Flinders University in South Australia. Alice tells us about her research that explores archaeological perspectives derived from the artifacts left by humans on the moon from 1969 to 1972. She shares stories behind her article “Culture on the Moon: Bodies in Time and Space,” published in the April 2016 issue of Archaeologies: the Journal of the World Archaeological Congress.
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We talk about tracks five and six from the Music of Earth, covering music from Australia ("Morning Star and Devil Bird") and Mexico ("El Cascabel"). We really start getting into the Question of Attribution for the musical selections,... more
We talk about tracks five and six from the Music of Earth, covering music from Australia ("Morning Star and Devil Bird") and Mexico ("El Cascabel").
We really start getting into the Question of Attribution for the musical selections, looking into the controversy surrounding track five. We also cover photos 14-17, covering DNA and cell division.
We really start getting into the Question of Attribution for the musical selections, looking into the controversy surrounding track five. We also cover photos 14-17, covering DNA and cell division.
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In this episode we feature Dr Alice Gorman ('Dr Spacejunk') who is a Space Archaeologist and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Archaeology, Flinders University in South Australia. She is a member of the Advisory Council of the Space... more
In this episode we feature Dr Alice Gorman ('Dr Spacejunk') who is a Space Archaeologist and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Archaeology, Flinders University in South Australia. She is a member of the Advisory Council of the Space Industry Association of Australia. Alice casts a new focus on WRESAT-1, Australia's first satellite launch, positioning Australia as the third nation in space in 1967. She explains how the Voyager probes and the 'Golden record' are cultural milestones which mark humanity's place in the solar system. As one of the few space archeologists on planet earth, she gives fabulous and new insights into the ISS and the treasure it has become.
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What are our goals when it comes to space exploration? Are we still searching for sentient life beyond Earth? How far away are we from colonising on another planet or celestial body? Speakers: Dr Alice Gorman - Senior Lecturer in the... more
What are our goals when it comes to space exploration? Are we still searching for sentient life beyond Earth? How far away are we from colonising on another planet or celestial body?
Speakers:
Dr Alice Gorman - Senior Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at Flinders University.
Steven Freeland - Professor in International Law at Western Sydney University
Emily Bathgate - Casual Academic at the University of Technology Sydney.
Hosted by Jake Morcom.
Speakers:
Dr Alice Gorman - Senior Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at Flinders University.
Steven Freeland - Professor in International Law at Western Sydney University
Emily Bathgate - Casual Academic at the University of Technology Sydney.
Hosted by Jake Morcom.
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In the summer of 1961 the upper stage of the rocket carrying the Transit 4A satellite blew up about two hours after launch. It was the first known human-made object to unintentionally explode in space, and it created hundreds of fragments... more
In the summer of 1961 the upper stage of the rocket carrying the Transit 4A satellite blew up about two hours after launch. It was the first known human-made object to unintentionally explode in space, and it created hundreds of fragments of useless space junk. Some of these pieces were pulled into the atmosphere where they burned up but around 200 of them are still up and orbiting today.
Producer Emmett FitzGerald spoke with Hugh Lewis, a space junk expert at the University of Southampton; Donald Kessler, who started the Orbital Debris Program at NASA; and Alice Gorman, also known as Dr. Spacejunk.
Producer Emmett FitzGerald spoke with Hugh Lewis, a space junk expert at the University of Southampton; Donald Kessler, who started the Orbital Debris Program at NASA; and Alice Gorman, also known as Dr. Spacejunk.
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Guest: Dr. Alice Gorman; Topics: Space archaeology, what it is, why it is important, expanding the field, ET visitation, culture, & more.
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Adelaide is known as the City Of Lights, often seen twinkling under the stars. But somewhere between the city lights and the stars, there are more than 100 million pieces of space junk, floating above us. And our guest tonight puts more... more
Adelaide is known as the City Of Lights, often seen twinkling under the stars. But somewhere between the city lights and the stars, there are more than 100 million pieces of space junk, floating above us.
And our guest tonight puts more of her focus on the junk rather than the stars and the lights because she believes there is much to learn from and record about human history, culture and science in this expensive trash.
Dr Alice Gorman from Flinders University is a Space Archeologist and she’ll take us on her ‘dig’ in space tonight..
And our guest tonight puts more of her focus on the junk rather than the stars and the lights because she believes there is much to learn from and record about human history, culture and science in this expensive trash.
Dr Alice Gorman from Flinders University is a Space Archeologist and she’ll take us on her ‘dig’ in space tonight..
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As we deplete our energy resources on Earth, mining the Moon for precious minerals is becoming a tempting alternative. Researchers believe lunar mining will begin in less than 10 years. But given the damage mining has done on our planet,... more
As we deplete our energy resources on Earth, mining the Moon for precious minerals is becoming a tempting alternative. Researchers believe lunar mining will begin in less than 10 years. But given the damage mining has done on our planet, how do you feel about our 'Harvest Moon' becoming a mined Moon?
Dr Alice Gorman is a space archaeologist. She explains what that means, and why cable ties can be more significant than you might think.
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Do you know what Space Archaeology is? No, neither do I, and that's why I interviewed Alice Gorman, a.k.a. @Dr Spacejunk. Apparently, it doesn't involve digging up moon dinosaurs, or Nazis in space either.
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We are joined by Doctor Alice Gorman to discuss a paper she wrote about the problem of preserving our orbital heritage, why we should be thinking about it, and how we might go about the task of preserving our history even as it orbits... more
We are joined by Doctor Alice Gorman to discuss a paper she wrote about the problem of preserving our orbital heritage, why we should be thinking about it, and how we might go about the task of preserving our history even as it orbits several thousand miles above our heads.
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In this interview, I ask Chris about human-machine relations, lessons for the Australian space program and his favourite bit of space junk.
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During our first segment, Dr. Gorman explained space archaeology, talked about space debris, cultural preservation, and much more. We talked about archaeological techniques used here on Earth and how they can be applied to space... more
During our first segment, Dr. Gorman explained space archaeology, talked about space debris, cultural preservation, and much more. We talked about archaeological techniques used here on Earth and how they can be applied to space archaeology. We also talked about the fact that most space artifacts are in space so what we often find in museums are replicas or simulated items which are not the same and have a different meaning for the archaeologist. Dr. Gorman then talked about the possibility of artifacts from other cultures or even extraterrestrial life and questioned if we could even recognize what we were looking at or working with since it might be radically different from what we know and work with on Earth. Listener Jonny emailed in to ask what would happen if China went to an lunar Apollo landing site and took some of the items left on the Moon back to be displayed in a Chinese museum. Dr. Gorman did not think that likely, spoke about the Outer Space Treaty and that items are always owned by the launching company, and the NASA heritage sites guidelines they have proposed. Several questions came in regarding growth in the private, commercial, & entrepreneurial segments of the space community and how cultural and heritage protection might work with these nongovernment entities. This led to an interesting discussion about company behavior, culture, early planning, awareness, and even benefit sharing. We had a fun discussion about advertising in space for the ad to be seen back on Earth and we talked about how many of us hold the night sky sacred and do not want it spoiled. In the second segment, Angela asked Alice when space archaeology would come into its own. Alice replied that it already had "arrived" and cited many examples proving this. Kimberly emailed in about the usefulness for archaeological purposes of space settlement garbage. Mars One was the model for this. As we learned, archaeologists learn much from garbage so don't miss what Alice said might result from a Mars One garbage dump analysis. Todd emailed in about pets going to space settlements and if archaeologists would look for pet remains or traces of human pet relationships to learn about a space settlement. We talked about Dark Skies and raising our awareness for specific issues, plus the need for early planning by businesses. As the show was about to end, I asked our guest for the hottest topics in space archaeology. Alice named three topics. The final question asked Alice to look forward five years and describe the field of space archaeology in 2019. Check our Dr. Gorman's blog, Space Age Archaeology, at http://zoharesque.blogspot.com. Her university website is www.flinders.edu.au/people/alice.gorman.
Welcome to special edition of the CRM Archaeology podcast! Regular panelist Russell Alleen-Willems and I [Chris Webster] attended the conference in hot and humid Honolulu, Hawaii from April 3rd to April 7th.
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ENCORE Indiana Jones meets Star Trek in the field of space archaeology. Satellites scan ancient ruins so that scientists can map them without disturbing one grain of sand. Discover how some archaeologists forsake their spades and brushes... more
ENCORE Indiana Jones meets Star Trek in the field of space archaeology. Satellites scan ancient ruins so that scientists can map them without disturbing one grain of sand. Discover how some archaeologists forsake their spades and brushes in favor of examining historic sites from hundreds of miles high.
Also, if you were to hunt for alien artifacts – what would you look for? Why ET might choose to send snail mail rather than a radio signal.
Plus, the culture of the hardware we send into space, and roaming the Earth, the moon, and Mars the Google way.
Also, if you were to hunt for alien artifacts – what would you look for? Why ET might choose to send snail mail rather than a radio signal.
Plus, the culture of the hardware we send into space, and roaming the Earth, the moon, and Mars the Google way.
Vanessa and Sean speak with Dr Alice Gorman, a Space Archaeologist from Flinders University. Alice is an internationally recognised leader in the emerging field of space archaeology and tells all about orbital debris, cardboard and cable... more
Vanessa and Sean speak with Dr Alice Gorman, a Space Archaeologist from Flinders University. Alice is an internationally recognised leader in the emerging field of space archaeology and tells all about orbital debris, cardboard and cable ties.
Have you ever looked up to the sky and wondered what's beyond our atmosphere? Apparently, just a whole lot of junk, as we found out as we chatted with space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman.
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Interview with Dr Alice Gorman, Flinders University Gorman says she is quite concerned about the amount of space debris in the Earth's orbit and says it is a hazard for existing satellite services. She says she would like to see a... more
Interview with Dr Alice Gorman, Flinders University Gorman says she is quite concerned about the amount of space debris in the Earth's orbit and says it is a hazard for existing satellite services. She says she would like to see a comprehensive approach to getting rid of it and take into account the cultural heritage values of the some of the old space craft up there. She says Vanguard One is such an example and explains it was the second US satellite launched in 1958 and is the oldest object in orbit, and says it has a massive amount of cultural significance. She says Australia's first amateur satellite, Australis Oscar Five, which was built by a bunch of Melbourne University students, is also in orbit. Gorman says the most of the junk in orbit is small bits, and is hard to claim they are all culturally significant.
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Interviewed by Sally Obermeder and Kris Smith.
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Episode 39 - TEDxSydney: Ron McCallum, Alice Gorman, Marc Newson & Marita Cheng A collection of topics from this years' TEDxSydney covering: blindness, technology & reading (Ron McCallum); the Lockheed Lounge (Marc Newson); Space Junk... more
Episode 39 - TEDxSydney: Ron McCallum, Alice Gorman, Marc Newson & Marita Cheng
A collection of topics from this years' TEDxSydney covering: blindness, technology & reading (Ron McCallum); the Lockheed Lounge (Marc Newson); Space Junk (Alice Gorman) and Robogirls (Marita Cheng).
A collection of topics from this years' TEDxSydney covering: blindness, technology & reading (Ron McCallum); the Lockheed Lounge (Marc Newson); Space Junk (Alice Gorman) and Robogirls (Marita Cheng).
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An exhibition of new artworks is on display at Flinders’ Bedford Park campus as the result of the artist’s six-month exploration of Flinders University Art Museum. South Australian artist Fran Callen was able to investigate and... more
An exhibition of new artworks is on display at Flinders’ Bedford Park campus as the result of the artist’s six-month exploration of Flinders University Art Museum.
South Australian artist Fran Callen was able to investigate and research Flinders’ art collection as inspiration for her own work as part of a project delivered in partnership between Guildhouse and the University.
My contribution: drawing on one work.
South Australian artist Fran Callen was able to investigate and research Flinders’ art collection as inspiration for her own work as part of a project delivered in partnership between Guildhouse and the University.
My contribution: drawing on one work.
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“As a group, we’re imagining the future,” explained Douglas Paulson, who co-founded the Menu for Mars Supper Club with fellow artist Heidi Neilson. This weekend throughout June, the supper club– which has been holding meetups for the past... more
“As a group, we’re imagining the future,” explained Douglas Paulson, who co-founded the Menu for Mars Supper Club with fellow artist Heidi Neilson. This weekend throughout June, the supper club– which has been holding meetups for the past year where members gather to dream up, enact, and discuss solutions to culinary life on Mars– will hold a residency at The Boiler, The Menu For Mars Kitchen, complete with tastings, cook-offs, and interactive events of all kinds. Special cocktails created by an Australian archeologist, Alice Gorman (aka Dr. Space Junk), who specializes in debris from outer space will be served.
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What would you choose as your ‘favourite thing’ if you gained an all access pass to behind the scenes of a museum collection for the day? Join us at the Bay Discovery Centre to discover the unique items chosen from the Holdfast Bay... more
What would you choose as your ‘favourite thing’ if you gained an all access pass to behind the scenes of a museum collection for the day? Join us at the Bay Discovery Centre to discover the unique items chosen from the Holdfast Bay history collection by local identities.
An eclectic group of items such as hand-coloured imagery of Luna Park and Mother of Pearl Opera Binoculars have been chosen by individuals including author Mem Fox and Mayor Stephen Patterson. 'My Favourite Thing' offers a chance to view these items whilst exploring personal insights into each individual’s choice.
An eclectic group of items such as hand-coloured imagery of Luna Park and Mother of Pearl Opera Binoculars have been chosen by individuals including author Mem Fox and Mayor Stephen Patterson. 'My Favourite Thing' offers a chance to view these items whilst exploring personal insights into each individual’s choice.
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Congratulations to the shortlisted authors for the Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing 2016.
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The voting round of our science prize (details here) is over. Thanks to the nominators and the voters for participating.
So here they are, the top 23 (there was a tie for the last six places), in descending order from the most voted-for.
So here they are, the top 23 (there was a tie for the last six places), in descending order from the most voted-for.
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"Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage" nominated for award The Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage, edited by Ann Garrison Darrin and Beth Laura O'Leary, has been nominated for an Emme award. The... more
"Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage" nominated for award
The Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage, edited by Ann Garrison Darrin and Beth Laura O'Leary, has been nominated for an Emme award. The annual Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature Award, named for NASA’s first Historian, recognizes an outstanding book that advances public understanding of astronautics. It rewards originality, scholarship and readability. I have two chapters in this book.
The Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage, edited by Ann Garrison Darrin and Beth Laura O'Leary, has been nominated for an Emme award. The annual Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature Award, named for NASA’s first Historian, recognizes an outstanding book that advances public understanding of astronautics. It rewards originality, scholarship and readability. I have two chapters in this book.
Awarded by the Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc
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Panel discussion: eminent speakers: Michael Davis, Chair, Space Industry Association of Australia, Dr Nicola Sassanelli, Director, SA Space Industry Centre, Dr Matthew Tetlow, Founder, Inovor Technologies and Dr Alice Gorman,... more
Panel discussion: eminent speakers: Michael Davis, Chair, Space Industry Association of Australia, Dr Nicola Sassanelli, Director, SA Space Industry Centre, Dr Matthew Tetlow, Founder, Inovor Technologies and Dr Alice Gorman, (@DrSpaceJunk), Finders University.
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Chapman University and the Space & Society Collective Program are hosting Dr. Alice Gorman in a lecture titled, The Space Traveler’s Guide to the Archaeology of the Solar System, on Thursday, October 12 at 7 p.m. in the Center for... more
Chapman University and the Space & Society Collective Program are hosting Dr. Alice Gorman in a lecture titled, The Space Traveler’s Guide to the Archaeology of the Solar System, on Thursday, October 12 at 7 p.m. in the Center for American War Letters, Leatherby Library B03.
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This intimate panel will share their experience and thoughts about advancements in industries outside of education and career development.
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A night of readings on the theme of 'Mysteries and Wonders'
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This book presents the results of research into a range of objects found in thriftshops, from cassettes and cameras, to tennis racquets and binoculars. The common theme that unites them all is that they have been used and discarded,... more
This book presents the results of research into a range of objects found in thriftshops, from cassettes and cameras, to tennis racquets and binoculars. The common theme that unites them all is that they have been used and discarded, before finding a new owner through a thriftshop-in effect, they're all loveable.