Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)
Dr Space Junk vs The Universe by Alice Gorman
Add Dr Space Junk vs The Universe to bookshelf
Add to Bookshelf

Look Inside

Dr Space Junk vs The Universe

Archaeology and the Future

Archaeology and the Future

By Alice Gorman
Foreword by Adam Roberts

By Alice Gorman
Foreword by Adam Roberts

By Alice Gorman
Foreword by Adam Roberts

By Alice Gorman
Foreword by Adam Roberts

Best Seller
Paperback $16.95

Nov 10, 2020 | ISBN 9780262539654

Ebook $13.99

Oct 22, 2019 | ISBN 9780262357135

All Formats
+
    Dr Space Junk vs The Universe by Alice Gorman
    Paperback $16.95
    Nov 10, 2020 | ISBN 9780262539654

    Buy from Other Retailers:

    See All Formats (1) +
    • $16.95

      Nov 10, 2020 | ISBN 9780262539654

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Oct 22, 2019 | ISBN 9780262357135

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Ebook:

    About Dr Space Junk vs The Universe

    A pioneering space archaeologist explores artifacts left behind in space and on Earth, from moon dust to Elon Musk’s red sports car.

    Alice Gorman is a space archaeologist: she examines the artifacts of human encounters with space. These objects, left behind on Earth and in space, can be massive (dead satellites in eternal orbit) or tiny (discarded zip ties around a defunct space antenna). They can be bold (an American flag on the moon) or hopeful (messages from Earth sent into deep space). They raise interesting questions: Why did Elon Musk feel compelled to send a red Tesla into space? What accounts for the multiple rocket-themed playgrounds constructed after the Russians launched Sputnik? Gorman—affectionately known as “Dr Space Junk” —takes readers on a journey through the solar system and beyond, deploying space artifacts, historical explorations, and even the occasional cocktail recipe in search of the ways that we make space meaningful.

    Engaging and erudite, Gorman recounts her background as a (nonspace) archaeologist and how she became interested in space artifacts. She shows us her own piece of space junk: a fragment of the fuel tank insulation from Skylab, the NASA spacecraft that crash-landed in Western Australia in 1979. She explains that the conventional view of the space race as “the triumph of the white, male American astronaut” seems inadequate; what really interests her, she says, is how everyday people engage with space. To an archaeologist, objects from the past are significant because they remind us of what we might want to hold on to in the future.

    About Dr Space Junk vs The Universe

    A pioneering space archaeologist explores artifacts left behind in space and on Earth, from moon dust to Elon Musk’s red sports car.

    Alice Gorman is a space archaeologist: she examines the artifacts of human encounters with space. These objects, left behind on Earth and in space, can be massive (dead satellites in eternal orbit) or tiny (discarded zip ties around a defunct space antenna). They can be bold (an American flag on the moon) or hopeful (messages from Earth sent into deep space). They raise interesting questions: Why did Elon Musk feel compelled to send a red Tesla into space? What accounts for the multiple rocket-themed playgrounds constructed after the Russians launched Sputnik? Gorman—affectionately known as “Dr Space Junk” —takes readers on a journey through the solar system and beyond, deploying space artifacts, historical explorations, and even the occasional cocktail recipe in search of the ways that we make space meaningful.

    Engaging and erudite, Gorman recounts her background as a (nonspace) archaeologist and how she became interested in space artifacts. She shows us her own piece of space junk: a fragment of the fuel tank insulation from Skylab, the NASA spacecraft that crash-landed in Western Australia in 1979. She explains that the conventional view of the space race as “the triumph of the white, male American astronaut” seems inadequate; what really interests her, she says, is how everyday people engage with space. To an archaeologist, objects from the past are significant because they remind us of what we might want to hold on to in the future.

    Product Details

    Category: Science & Technology

    Paperback | $16.95
    Published by The MIT Press
    Nov 10, 2020 | 304 Pages | 5-5/16 x 8-1/4 | ISBN 9780262539654

    Category: Science & Technology

    Ebook | $13.99
    Published by The MIT Press
    Oct 22, 2019 | 304 Pages | 5-5/16 x 8-1/4 | ISBN 9780262357135

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Praise

    “With a light and conversational voice, Alice Gorman delivers piercing insights into the meaning of our various efforts to leave Earth behind, as well as an entertaining primer on how archaeologists work and what they can teach us. This book is a must read for anyone interested in both the past and the future of space exploration.” – Emily Lakdawalla, author of The Design and Engineering of Curiosity: How the Mars Rover Does Its Job

    “Alice Gorman‘s unique book is far more than a look at the space debris that is orbiting Earth; rather, this mesmerizing tour of human effects on our planetary space and on neighboring worlds will leave readers with a completely new sense of the solar system. Bravo!” – David J. Eicher, Editor-in-Chief, Astronomy Magazine

    “Alice Gorman opens our eyes to the too-recent-to-be-appreciated artifacts of the space age, and points out their import and beauty. From the tens of thousands of macro-size objects orbiting Earth to the landers, rovers and other hardware abandoned on the moon and Mars, Gorman finds poetry and pertinence in the space age. Who knew the archaeology of the future is above our heads?” Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer, Institute Fellow, SETI Institute

    “Alice Gorman’s engaging meditation on the significance we give to space artifacts and space exploration challenges us to think about the cultural value of space junk. This book will be of interest not just to space enthusiasts but to all those fascinated by how humans give meaning to objects around them.” – Jonathan McDowell, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

    Table Of Contents

    INTRODUCTION: LOOKING UP, LOOKING DOWN 1
    On Earth as it is in heaven 3
    A new era of space 9
    Dr Space Junk’s tour of the solar system 12
    CHAPTER 1: HOW I BECAME A SPACE ARCHAEOLOGIST 16
    Outback and out of this world 17
    The Moon in the living room 20
    Venus in glasses 23
    Archaeology or astrophysics? 25
    Back to the past 30
    Stories from stone 33
    Lying in the gutter, looking up at the stars 37
    Launching into orbit 41
    CHAPTER 2: JOURNEY INTO SPACE 44
    1940s: a rocket and a bomb 47
    1950s: waging peace in the Cold War 51
    1960s: … and all I got was this lousy dust 56
    1970s: the backyard satellite 60
    1980s: aiming for the planet of love 64
    1990s: if Versace were to design a satellite 67
    2000s: a tale of two Rosetta stones 69
    2010s: the Starman cometh 73
    The phases of the Space Age 76
    CHAPTER 3: SPACE ARCHAEOLOGY BEGINS ON EARTH 79
    The Cold War stayed for dinner 82
    A space for children 87
    The rocket park comes Down Under 90
    The ultimate rocket playground 93
    Cold War in the desert heat 96
    How to forget your own Space Age 98
    Valley of the cable ties 100
    Artefact of the Space Age – or rubbish? 104
    The story of a space age object 108
    CHAPTER 4: JUNKYARD EARTH 114
    One thousand elephants orbiting the earth 119
    The cane toads of space 125
    The cosmos in our backyard 131
    Environmental management in space 135
    What is dead can never die 141
    ‘And warm with human love the chill of space’ 143
    CHAPTER 5: SHADOWS ON THE MOON 146
    When birds migrated to the Moon 149
    The children’s Moon 155
    The Moon of science or the Moon of lovers? 157
    The future of the lunar past 160
    An ephemeral archaeology 166
    A descent into darkness 169
    Shadows and dust 174
    The many-coloured Moon 179
    CHAPTER 6: THE EDGE OF KNOWN SPACE 181
    The new worlds 185
    The archaeology of not-quite-there 192
    The ghost in the machine 198
    The place defined by wind 202
    Beyond the morning star 206
    CHAPTER 7: WHOSE SPACE IS IT ANYWAY? 212
    The ‘sweet poison of the false infinite’ 213
    Exteriores spatium nullius 217
    Who has the rights to space? 223
    A planet by any other name 226
    Reflecting Earth in space 229
    Contested territories 234
    Lines on a map 241
    CHAPTER 8: FUTURE ARCHAEOLOGY 244
    True infinite 247
    The body in the machine 252
    Space marked by death 256
    When life means gravity 260
    The abandoned solar system 265
    The Small Dance 274
    SELECTED REFERENCES 276
    INDEX 283

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read
    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Raise kids who love to read

    Raise kids who love to read

    Today's Top Books

    Want to know what people are actually reading right now?

     An online magazine for today’s home cook

    An online magazine for today’s home cook