International Scientific Committee on Aerospace Heritage » AeroSpace

The International Scientific Committee on Aerospace Heritage 🧪 🏺 #SpaceArchaeology

An Introduction to Space Archaeology <p><b>An engaging, accessible account of humanity&rsquo;s heritage beyond Earth</b></p> <p>Space exploration has produced a rich material record that forms part of our cultural heritage. From abandoned launch sites and decommissioned satellites to lunar landing sites and the International Space Station, these traces reveal the story of humanity&rsquo;s ventures beyond Earth.</p> <p><i>An Introduction to Space Archaeology</i> is the first textbook to offer a comprehensive, student-friendly introduction to this emerging discipline. By applying archaeological methods to a wide range of historic space activities, author Lisa Westwood situates space exploration within the broader framework of human history to help students understand the cultural dimensions of humankind's off-world legacy.</p> <p>Written with an engaging style and clear pedagogical structure, the book is designed to support students from diverse academic backgrounds, including archaeology, history, anthropology, planetary science, and aerospace studies. Each chapter combines historical context with archaeological analysis, complemented by case studies, summaries, key terms, and study questions to reinforce learning and spark critical thinking. Throughout the book, Westwood addresses pressing issues such as orbital debris, site preservation, and ethical stewardship to highlight the urgency of preserving humanity&rsquo;s legacy off Earth for future generations.</p> <p>Encouraging students to actively engage with one of the newest and most exciting frontiers in archaeology, <i>An Introduction to Space Archaeology:</i></p> <ul> <li>Presents space exploration as both a technological achievement and a cultural milestone.</li> <li>Integrates archaeology method and theory with space history, planetary science, and aerospace studies in an interdisciplinary framework</li> <li>Bridges traditional archaeological methods with modern concerns about technology, heritage, and international policy</li> <li>Supports both introductory and advanced discussions of archaeology, history, and cultural resource management</li> <li>Provides extensive instructor resources, including customizable lecture slides and quiz banks</li> </ul> <p><i>An Introduction to Space Archaeology</i> is the perfect textbook for upper-level high school and undergraduate courses in archaeology, history, anthropology, planetary science, and aerospace studies. It is well-suited for courses such as Cultural Resources Management, Archaeology of the 20th Century, Earth and Planetary Science, and Space Law.</p> <hr /> <p>'A giant leap in the field of space archaeology and heritage! Westwood has done an excellent job introducting Aerospace heritage to students and broadening the accessibility of its scholars. It reflects her expertise in the historic context of the human movement into space and deep commitment to its preservation'<br /> <b>&ndash; Beth Laura O'Leary, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, New Mexico State University</b><br /><br />'A masterful contribution that bridges archaeology and planetary science, offering a clear conceptual and methodological framework for identifying, interpreting, and studying archaeological signatures distributed across the Solar System. This book not only introduces a new generation of students to space archaeology but also challenges scholars across disciplines to reconsider how and, most importantly, why we study humanity's material footprint.'<br /><b>&ndash;&nbsp;Justin Holcomb, Assistant Research Professor, Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas, Assistant Director, Odyssey Archaeological Research Program<br /><br /></b>'The archaeology of human activity in space is an exciting new field, and Lisa Westwood has been there from the beginning. There is nobody better to introduce the key concepts of space archaeology, grounded in traditional archaeological and historic preservation practices. This book will grab students' attention and show them how it's possible to think beyond disciplinary boundaries and ask new questions.'<br /><b>&ndash; Justin Walsh, Professor of Art History, Archaeology, and Space Studies, Chapman University</b><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>

The first textbook on space archaeology!

'A giant leap in the field of space archaeology and heritage' - Beth Laura O'Leary

🧪 🔭 🏺 #SpaceArchaeology

The #ArtemisII crew might be in zero gravity, but they make their own gravity by using Velcro, straps, clips, ziplock bags and other gravity devices. Gravity is created by material culture! #SpaceArchaeology

Dr Space Junk vs The Universe 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 ma...

My book talks about it! (Among other things). And there are others, maybe I should make a list.
#SpaceArchaeology

Apparently the Artemis II crew have done a waste-water dump .... so there'll be lots of little yellow ice crystals on the way to the Moon! #SpaceJunk 🧪 #SpaceArchaeology

NASA's Artemis 2 moon astronauts are 'fortunate' to have a private space toilet — Apollo crews pooped in plastic bags It's "the one place that we can go during the mission where we can actually feel like we're alone for a moment."

The Artemis II mission will return to Earth - but leave a trail of frozen urine behind as it goes round the Moon.
#SpaceArchaeology #SpaceJunk 🧪

Space Journal: Art, Science and Cosmic Exploration An endless source of fascination, space is both alluring and mysterious, a place of wonder and terror. Space Journal is a visual celebration of our perception of the cosmos across centuries and cultur...

I'm really excited to be featured in this book!
🧪 #SpaceArchaeology 📚💙

The spacescape: looking at heritage spacecraft as part of a cultural landscape This is an excerpt from Gorman, A.C. 2005   The archaeology of orbital space . In Australian Space Science Conference 2005, pp 338-357. RMIT...

March 17 is the anniversary of the launch of Vanguard 1, the oldest human object in space! In this post I look at Vanguard 1 and other satellites as part of the cultural landscape of Earth orbit.
🧪 #SpaceHeritage #SpaceArchaeology

Ethical considerations in managing the heritage values of lunar sites Since the impact of the Soviet Luna 2 spacecraft on the Moon in 1959, there have been over 100 places where space programmes have left material on the surface.

I think I just got published!
🧪 🏺 🔭 #PlanetSci #SpaceArchaeology

The Heavens Above: Archaeoastronomy, Space Heritage And SETI – WAC 5

The first ever conference session on space archaeology was at WAC-5 in 2003. From the abstract: 'there should be international agreements in place to protect at least the more significant sites and artefacts'
🧪 🏺 🔭 #SpaceArchaeology #Heritage #PlanetSci

Five Science Fiction Stories About Investigating Enigmatic Artifacts - Reactor "What is this thing, and where the heck did it come from?" is a great way to start any story!

Five Science Fiction Stories About Investigating Enigmatic Artefacts
#SpaceArchaeology 🏺

An archaeological perspective on orbital stratigraphy One of the things I've been thinking about for a while is the the structure of the  archaeological record of Earth orbit - all the spacec...

The nature of the archaeological record varies according to gravity: looking at orbital 'stratigraphy' as a dynamical system. 🧪 🏺 #SpaceArchaeology

Researchers spot Luna 9 on Moon as AI and manual sleuthing converge Researchers spot Luna 9 on Moon as AI and manual sleuthing converge Ai narrows the hunt for Luna 9 as Zelenyikots hand-traced coordinates await orbiter proof

Very excited that these researchers have located Luna 9, but annoyed by the article. It's the old misconception that archaeologists aim to find objects, and that's where it stops. Archaeology is about human interactions with the material world. #SpaceArchaeology 🧪 🏺

I think I've found the missing piece!

Or is it not the correct one @eveonline.com ?

@ccpgames.com @justabout.com #EVEOnline #TweetFleet #JustCreators #spacearchaeology

🏺 🔭 #SpaceArchaeology

10 talks by space archaeologists These are 10 videos by space archaeologists that you might find interesting to watch if you want to know more about the field. There's all s...

10 talks by space archaeologists
🏺🧪 #SpaceArchaeology

20th anniversary of the Space Age Archaeology blog Illustration by Jens Notroff . It just occurred to me that I have been writing this blog for 20 years. My first post was on July 4, 2004, a...

'I haven't been the most serious blogger, only writing when the mood takes me. Some years this has been very little. But it has been my constant companion as I have developed some of my core ideas in space archaeology.' (post from 2024)
🧪 🏺 #SpaceArchaeology #Blog

170. Archaeological sites at the lunar south pole, imaged by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Credit: Lunar and Planetary Institute
🔭 🏺 #SpaceArchaeology #PlanetSci #TabClosed2026

SPACE JUNK with Dr. Alice Gorman — alie ward Gaze into the cosmos and wonder at broken satellites, retired rockets and shattered contraptions. Archaeologist Dr. Alice Gorman is a leading expert on orbital debris and chats about what’s up there, ...

163. A few years ago I talked to the amazing Alie Ward on the Ologies podcast!
🧪 🔭 #TabClosed2026 #SpaceArchaeology @ologies.bsky.social

CNN Newsroom - Alice Gorman Powered by SnapStream Cloud Sharing

120. In January 2025, I talked to CNN about the World Monuments Watch listing of the Moon and all its heritage.
🏺 🔭 #SpaceArchaeology #TabClosed2026

Boldly taking archaeology into space – Flinders In Touch

118. Justin Walsh and I won the Archaeological Institute of America’s (AIA) 2023 Award for Outstanding Work in Digital Archaeology for the first archaeological fieldwork ever to take place outside Earth!
#SpaceArchaeology #TabClosed2026

NMSU hosts first U.S. meeting of international aerospace heritage committee New Mexico State University and the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium recently hosted a weeklong conference for the International Scientific Committee on...

114. In November 2025 we held a meeting of the International Scientific Committee for Aerospace Heritage in New Mexico! (I attended virtually).
#SpaceArchaeology #TabClosed2026 🏺

NASA’s Big 2022: Historic Moon Mission, Webb Telescope Images, More - NASA 2022 is one for the history books as NASA caps off another astronomical year.

111. 'During their science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory, the Crew-3 astronauts ... executed a space archaeology study that could provide information that contributes to the design of future space habitats'.
2022 - this was our study! #SpaceArchaeology 🧪 🔭 #TabClosed2026 #ISS

How to successfully colonize space: Lessons from island archaeology Humans will soon attempt to colonize astronomical bodies within, and perhaps eventually beyond, our solar system. This is intrinsically dangerous, and…

41. How to successfully colonize space: Lessons from island archaeology
🧪 🏺 🔭 #PlanetSci #SpaceArchaeology #TabClosed2026

The cultural significance of the Vanguard 1 satellite - oldest human object in orbit The Vanguard I satellite , launched successfully on March 17, 1958, is now the oldest manufactured object in orbit. It is no longer tran...

'Vanguard represents the conflicting motivations and rationales for space exploration in the critical period of the 1950s'

(from 2018) 🧪 🏺 🔭 #Heritage #SpaceArchaeology

The archaeologist's guide to colonizing other worlds Models help scientists understand everything from the particles that make up the universe to massive superstructures of galaxies at the beginning of time. But sometimes they model more mundane, though perhaps even more complex, features—including the course of human civilization. A new paper by Thomas Leppard of the International Archaeological Research Institute and his co-authors, all of whom are also archaeologists, proposes applying a model of how humans expanded to the different islands across the Pacific Ocean during their early migration to glean insights into how humanity should manage our colonization of space.

Ancient Pacific voyages 🌊 inspire a bold idea: can modeling early human expansion across islands help us navigate space colonization? ✨🚀 #SpaceArchaeology

Source: phys.org/news/2025-11-archaeologi...

Exo-Archaeology Yesterday Bill (Rathje) commented on space junk. [Link] I asked him to say more about garbage and archaeology in space. He reminded me of something that was in a recent article of ours (Michael Sha…

An early mention of space archaeology (from 2004)
#SpaceArchaeology 🏺

FAQs : The International Space Station Transition Plan - NASA The International Space Station Transition Plan laid out NASA’s vision for the next decade of the microgravity laboratory that is returning enormous

Maybe reuse as an orbiting data centre would be a viable future for the International Space Station? #SpaceArchaeology www.nasa.gov/faqs-the-int...

25 Years of the International Space Station: What archaeology tells us about living and working in space Archaeologists have studied how astronauts use the International Space Station to improve its potential future successors.

25 Years of the International Space Station: What archaeology tells us about living and working in space 🧪 🏺 🔭 #SpaceArchaeology

Bibliography: Space Archaeology I update this bibliography as new material is published, but it is not exhaustive. Please let me know what I'm missing. This is about space...

That's just regular archaeology using remote sensing. If you want to read more, check out my handy bibliography! #SpaceArchaeology