The Routledge Handbook of Social Studies of Outer Space offers a state-of-the-art overview of contemporary social and cultural research on outer space. With over thirty contributions by leading researchers across a variety of disciplines, it explores the question of why and how to study outer space and provides scholars, practitioners and upper-level students with novel perspectives and critical interventions on a wide range of debates. Topics covered include: Critical social studies of space Space humanities Space imaginaries Space heritage Space technologies, systems, and infrastructures Colonialism and decolonisation Race and space Environmental justice and space activism Indigenous astronomical systems of Knowledge Afrofuturism; Indigenous Futurisms Contemporary space art Scientific communities The volume reflects on the lineages of conceptualizations and studies of outer space and poses key questions about the crafting of futures in relation to space. In particular, the chapters address a range of themes, such as the study of the human body and consciousness; the various infrastructures, networks and systems that enable and sustain space exploration; the fundamental question of life in outer space both as it pertains to astrobiology, SETI, and the study of human health in spaceflight. Ultimately, the handbook is a call to attend more carefully to the ways in which we engage critically with outer space, both empirically, affectively and theoretically, while characterizing current research practices and outlining future research agendas.

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.