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Archaeology and Heritage of the Human Movement into Space pp 49–59Cite as

Mobile Artifacts in the Solar System and Beyond

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Part of the book series: Space and Society ((SPSO))

Abstract

This chapter looks at the discard behavior by humans and the ability of space technology to have a life history as artifacts become archaeological objects and enter the archaeological record. Once a spacecraft, for example, no longer responds to signals from Earth and ceases to be used for which it was designed, it becomes a discarded, and hence, archaeological object. The author explores both classical and innovative methods and provides historic case studies of spacecraft to illustrate how archaeologists can study this class of artifacts.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Social Sciences, Abington College, Penn State University, Abington, PA, USA

    P. J. Capelotti

Authors
  1. P. J. Capelotti
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Correspondence to P. J. Capelotti .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Anthropology, New Mexico State University at Las Cruce, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA

    Beth Laura O’Leary

  2. Division of Social Sciences,, Penn State University Abington College, Abington, PA, USA

    P. J. Capelotti

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Capelotti, P.J. (2015). Mobile Artifacts in the Solar System and Beyond. In: O’Leary, B., Capelotti, P. (eds) Archaeology and Heritage of the Human Movement into Space. Space and Society. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07866-3_4

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