humanitys stuff in space save ignore delete Kathryn

humanity's stuff in space: save? ignore? delete? Kathryn Denning York University

Monthly Number of Catalogued Objects in Earth Orbit by Object Type. n. b. ‘Fragmentation’ = satellite breakup and anomalous event debris, as opposed to ‘mission-related’ debris, which is intentional. Source: Orbital Debris Quarterly News, vol 10 issue 2, April 2006. NASA. Catalogued by U. S. Space Surveillance Network.

Objects in Low Earth Orbit – approximately 95% of objects are orbital debris rather than functional satellites. (dots not to scale!) Source: NASA

Objects in Geosynchronous Orbit ~35 785 km altitude Again, mostly orbital debris Source: NASA

Objects in Geosynchronous Orbit Polar view Source: NASA

Rt: panel from Long Duration Exposure Facility, after being in LEO in 5. 7 years, until Jan 1990

Effective number of LEO objects, 10 cm and larger, from simulation by J. -C. Liou and N. L. Johnson. Best-case scenario based on assumption of no new launches after 1 Jan 2005. Source: Orbital Debris Quarterly News, vol 10 issue 2, April 2006. NASA, and Science 20 Jan 2006.

STILL OUT THERE…. From top left, by row: Ranger 4, impact 1962 Ranger 7, impact 1964, first US moon images Luna 9, USSR, 1966 Surveyor, US, 1966 Luna 13, USSR, 1966 Luna 16, USSR, 1970 Luna 17/Lunakhod 1, USSR lander + first rover, 1970 Lunakhod 2 rover, 1973, + lander Luna 1, USSR flyby in 1959, now in heliocentric orbit

Probable artifact locations at Tranquility Base. Lunar Legacy Project.

Plaque left on the moon surface as part of the Apollo 11 mission. (It would be so nice if all archaeological sites were helpfully labelled for posterity like this. )

Venera 9, 1975, the first to take pictures of Venus’ surface

Space Heritage Task Force of the World Archaeological Congress 2004 onwards Some of our objectives: * Identify examples of places, sites, and objects that have exceptional cultural value and whose preservation will benefit all humankind * Propose a set of cultural, historical, social and scientific criteria for preserving space heritage places of exceptional cultural heritage value * Investigate avenues for preservation within existing legal frameworks, e. g. World Heritage Convention * Figure out which institutions might support programs of preservation / protection

2004 - Space Shuttle Columbia Crew memorial on Mars, at the site of the Mars Spirit rover landing.

Humanity’s story from Laetoli to other worlds

Questions for you – as scholars, citizens of nation(s) and the world, and human beings: What categories of objects or sites do you think should be preserved? (If any. ) Why? In general, what should the criteria (cultural, historical, scientific) be for identifying exceptionally important objects or sites?