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Archaeology of the Space Age

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The Archaeology of Science

Part of the book series: Manuals in Archaeological Method, Theory and Technique ((MATT,volume 9))

Abstract

The archaeology of the Space Age is a recent development that seemingly has an inaccessible subject matter. On the contrary, archaeologists have been making creative contributions employing diverse sources of evidence, from documenting launch pads and other facilities on military bases to interpreting satellite images of lunar sites. In addition, archaeologists have raised thorny preservation issues concerning satellites in orbit and about Apollo and other landing sites on the Moon. This chapter surveys the current state of Space-Age archaeology, highlighting the research potential of remains on the White Sands Missile Range, and offers suggestions for further research.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://www.worldarchaeologicalcongress.org/activities/taskforces/261-space-heritage, accessed 28 December 2012.

  2. 2.

    For example, http://englishrussia.com/2009/06/10/the-russian-space-museum/, accessed 30 May 2012; http://www.russianspaceweb.com/site_map.html, accessed 30 May 2012.

  3. 3.

    This site is a “guide to great space exhibits and museums”: http://www.museumofspacetravel.com, accessed 30 May 2012.

  4. 4.

    http://www.wsmr-history.org/Archives.asp, accessed 30 May 2012.

  5. 5.

    http://www.wsmr-history.org/Aerobee170.htm, accessed 30 May 2012.

  6. 6.

    http://spacegrant.nmsu.edu/lunarlegacies/index.html, accessed 30 May 2012.

  7. 7.

    Guidelines: http://go.nasa.gov/JDYo9v, accessed 30 May 2012; the list of teams: http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/teams, accessed 30 May 2012.

  8. 8.

    http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/overview/index.html, accessed 5 June 2012.

  9. 9.

    The rovers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Global_Surveyor, accessed 9 June 2012; Capelotti (2010:129); Viking I: http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/4_14_98_vl1_release/, accessed 9 June 2012, and Capelotti (2010:117).

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Acknowledgments

Alice Gorman generously supplied a host of critical references, engaged with me in spirited e-mail discussions of many issues, and furnished very helpful comments on the chapter’s penultimate draft. I greatly appreciate her collegiality and value her many insights into Space-Age archaeology. I am also indebted to the archaeologists employed on US military bases for supplying pdfs of unpublished reports on missile and rocket activities: James Bowman, White Sands Missile Range, James N. Carucci, Vandenberg Air Force Base, and Martha Yduarte, Fort Bliss.

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  1. School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Michael Brian Schiffer

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Schiffer, M.B. (2013). Archaeology of the Space Age. In: The Archaeology of Science. Manuals in Archaeological Method, Theory and Technique, vol 9. Springer, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00077-0_12

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