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Full-Text Articles in Art and Design

Postorbital Discard And Chain Of Custody: The Processing Of Artifacts Returning To Earth From The International Space Station, Justin St. P. Walsh, Alice C. Gorman, Paola Castaño Apr 2022

Postorbital Discard And Chain Of Custody: The Processing Of Artifacts Returning To Earth From The International Space Station, Justin St. P. Walsh, Alice C. Gorman, Paola Castaño

Art Faculty Articles and Research

Few items that comprise the material culture of the International Space Station ever return to Earth. Most are left on the station or placed on cargo resupply ships that burn up on atmospheric re-entry. This fact presents a challenge for archaeologists who use material culture as their primary evidence. Together with a sociologist, we observed the processes that have been developed by NASA contractors to handle and return items that come back to Earth on the Cargo Dragon vehicle. We observed two missions, CRS-13 and CRS-14, in January and May 2018, respectively, traveling to the locations of work and interviewing …


Eternity In Low Earth Orbit: Icons On The International Space Station, Wendy Salmond, Justin Walsh, Alice Gorman Nov 2020

Eternity In Low Earth Orbit: Icons On The International Space Station, Wendy Salmond, Justin Walsh, Alice Gorman

Art Faculty Articles and Research

This paper investigates the material culture of icons on the International Space Station as part of a complex web of interactions between cosmonauts and the Russian Orthodox Church, reflecting contemporary terrestrial political and social aairs. An analysis of photographs from the International Space Station (ISS) demonstrated that a particular area of the Zvezda module is used for the display of icons, both Orthodox and secular, including the Mother of God of Kazan and Yuri Gagarin. The Orthodox icons are frequently sent to space and returned to Earth at the request of church clerics. In this process, the icons become part …