Prof. Joshua Reno (Binghamton University): The Wrong Stuff: Orbital Space Debris as Problem and Possibility

His talk will take us to the atmosphere miles above us, where hundreds of millions of tiny artificial particles and larger fragments are circling the planet, mostly undetected, moving as fast as speeding bullets. Orbital space debris—artificial objects and materials launched into orbit that no longer serve a purpose—has been accumulating in the sixty years since the Soviet Union sent Sputnik into space and transformed the stakes of the Cold War. In the talk Joshua reviews various attempts to witness and revalue space debris, which expose the historical and ongoing militarization of outer space. This is challenging for two reasons. First, it can be hard to link debris to permanent war preparation, because this connection has been actively foreclosed from public awareness by the US security state. Every space mission creates some debris, and many space missions had covert and classified goals that were not disclosed until later, and some never were. Moreover, it is hard even to see space debris, or know it when you've seen it, making reckoning with it at all a unique challenge.

To prepare the session and ensure a fruitful discussion we suggest participants read the following research paper written by Joshua (PDF attached): 

Reno, Joshua O. 2018. “Making Time With Amateur Astronomers and Orbital Space Debris: Attunement and the Matter of Temporality”. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology 5 (1):4-18. https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.33336.

For further questions please send an email to etrod@zirs.uni-halle.de.