SPACE ARCHAEOLOGY

WHAT IS SPACE ARCHAEOLOGY?

 By : Elssey Elizebeth

Exactly what is the point of space archaeology?

Space archaeology refers to the field of archaeology that focuses on the scientific investigation of artefacts generated by humans and their subsequent use as historical evidence for the exploration of space. Satellites, orbital debris, and objects and structures on other planets and moons are all part of this category. It also incorporates the practical area of cultural resource management, which assesses the value of artefacts and sites in space in light of national and international preservation regulations. Cultural resource examines the what, how, and why of preserving these modern artefacts of our history. (Wikipedia, 2023)

 

WHAT DOES A SPACE ARCHAEOLOGIST DO ?

A space archaeologist studies man made objects that return from outer space.

 

WHO IS SARAH PARCAK IN ARCHAEOLOGY ?

 Parcak describes space archaeology (named after a 2008 NASA funding project) as using “any form of air or space-based data” to look for ancient features or sites. An early practitioner was Antoine Poidebard, the ‘Flying Priest’, who spent much of the 1920s photographing ancient sites in Syria and Lebanon from a biplane. From the 1960s, NASA missions such as the Landsat satellites began to provide a view from space, although archaeologists failed to catch on for two decades. US spy-satellite images from the cold war were released by then-president Bill Clinton in the 1990s; the field hit “warp speed”, says Parcak, a few years later. Today, commercial projects such as Google Earth provide space-based images with ever-higher detail, and drones scan landscapes from closer to Earth. (Sarah Parcak Henry Holt, 2019)

https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/02/17/467104127/space-archaeologist-wants-your-help-to-find-ancient-sites