Space archaeology is what it sounds like: the study of space sciences and archaeology. The field looks at human-made objects found in outer space to better understand humanity in space and the culture that comes with that. It aims to design space life better and provide information on life in space environments. This field is somewhat new, but as it develops, it will continue to study past space missions, artifacts, and living places. Space archaeology’s goal of looking at humans adapting to space will allow us to understand the history of space exploration and further grow our knowledge of the challenges of astronauts and ideal space habitats.
You might be asking, how does Archaeology intersect with modern technology? Yes, rovers don’t have ecofacts, and rockets don’t have fossils, but current space sites can still be studied using archaeological methods. For example, the International Space Station Archaeological Project (ISSAP)) is the International Space Station archaeological study. The program, which was created in 2015, aims to understand human adaptation to space environments. In the last ten years, the project has used archaeology to understand humans’ interactions with the environment and improve future missions.
The field uses specialties including archaeology, astronomy, statistics, and history to examine objects like space debris and satellites. After 1957, when the first satellite was launched into space, over 5000 large objects have been sent into space. These objects beyond Earth contain extensive scientific equipment and modern space exploration artifacts. Looking at these artifacts, archaeologists can gain insight into humanity and its correlation to space exploration. The field has roots in space exploration, as artifacts from the Apollo missions were first examined. The Apollo missions, pioneering missions to get to the lunar surface, left artifacts on the moon which now, as archaeological sites, can reveal the evolution of space over time. Now, when space technology develops, with the addition of commercial space travel and modern technology like rovers, archaeologists can look at space artifacts with better understanding.
This study of human-made artifacts in space comes with some challenges. As it is a new interdisciplinary field, the space exploration technologies that support it are still new and developing. To develop technology that can analyze artifacts from planets, barriers of harsh or far environments must be faced before objects can be studied. In the future, the development of learning the artifacts from space missions or past technologies can reveal how humans adapt to the challenges of space life. Space archaeology will continue to play a role in preserving heritage, which is space exploration.
Overall, this emerging field can help us understand the development of space exploration from the past to the present and, soon enough, the future. It will reveal the history of space exploration and help us understand how to live in outer space.
In Orbit 