Format: Provocations, Interview & Q&A
Convenors:
Ceridwen Dovey, Macquarie University Research Fellow (MQRF), School of Communication, Society and Culture, Macquarie University, Australia
In 25 years, space archaeology has developed from a barely-accepted subdiscipline of the archaeology of the contemporary past to one which is informing the policies of space agencies, private corporations and international NGOs. Two extraordinary women have been at the forefront of this development.
Professor Beth Laura O’Leary (New Mexico State University) carried out the first space archaeology project when she and her team, funded by NASA, catalogued the artefacts left at the 1969 Apollo landing site, establishing Tranquility Base as an archaeological site with heritage values. Subsequently, she worked with NASA to produce their first-ever heritage guidelines for the Moon. She has co-written or edited key works defining the discipline, including the ‘Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology, and Heritage’ and ‘Final Mission: Preserving NASA’s Apollo Sites’.
Associate Professor Alice Gorman (Flinders University) established the heritage value of space junk in Earth orbit, investigated Indigenous intersections with space industry at rocket launch sites, and devised the SQuARE experiment, which became the first archaeological fieldwork ever to take place outside Earth (co-directed with Professor Justin Walsh of Chapman University). She was part of a collective which drafted the Declaration of the Rights of the Moon in 2021. Her book ‘Dr Space Junk vs the Universe: Archaeology and the Future’ brought space archaeology to a popular audience.
This session features short provocations from O’Leary and Gorman, following which both will be interviewed by space anthropologist and award-winning author Dr Ceridwen Dovey (Macquarie University), about the themes, concepts and future of space archaeology. The interview will be followed by a live audience Q & A.