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  • Awards

NASA Fellowship

The NASA Fellowship in the History of Space Technology, offered by SHOT and supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) History Division, funds either a predoctoral or postdoctoral fellow for up to one academic year to undertake a research project related to the history of space technology. The fellowship supports advanced research related to all aspects of space history leading to publication on the history of space technology broadly considered, including cultural and intellectual history, institutional history, economic history, history of law and public policy, and history of engineering and management. The 2015 fellowship was awarded to Lisa Ruth Rand of the University of Pennsylvania for “Orbital Decay: Space Junk and the Environmental History of Earth’s Borderlands, 1957–1985,” with the following citation:

Lisa Ruth Rand’s proposed project for the NASA Fellowship in the History of Space Technology takes an original and innovative approach to developing an environmental history of near-Earth space. Utilizing her background in the history of science, environmental history, and astrophysics, while also engaging space history and the political history of the cold war, Rand is exploring a unique topic.

Rand examines what happens when space technologies lose their utility; she does so by relying on the concept that the meanings of artifacts, in this case space artifacts, change as their uses change. In order to conceptualize an environmental history for space, she draws from research about so-called extreme environments, a less-studied area in the field of environmental history. Rand defines near-Earth orbit as a “landscape” and investigates the region as “a physical ecosystem of interacting forces, energy, and natural and artificial matter” shaped by humans, while shaping them and their technologies. She defines “space junk” as the debris of dead satellites, launch rockets, and decommissioned equipment stuck in Earth’s orbit.

Rand argues that an international environmental consciousness [End Page 183] of outer space formed during the cold war. She uses case studies that demonstrate “how different communities attempted to control an environment that few had directly encountered,” as well as “how early perceptions of environmental risk in orbit shaped the material and discursive contours of the planetary borderlands.” Drawing on archives of space scientists and engineers, as well as discussions in the popular press, Rand reveals how scientific and public discussions transformed and altered “ideas about where Earth ends and outer space begins.” She shows how astronomers’ concerns regarding the sky-obscuring effects of debris began impacting a public discussion about “littering,” “trashing,” and “dumping” in outer space in the context of a rising public environmental consciousness, especially after the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. She also explores how artifacts that threatened to fall to Earth challenged national and international legal regimes, while provoking creative, yet anxiety-ridden, responses in popular culture. She further illustrates how the increased ability to visualize and quantify the location of spacecraft and space junk alleviated fears by allowing the appearance of controllability. Last but not least, Rand examines the space shuttle program as an attempt to lessen the environmental impact of space technology because of its emphasis on reusability, and its potential to salvage, rehabilitate, and recycle damaged or dead space technologies.

Rand’s project promises to be a captivating and valuable addition to the literature on space history and environmental history. It is very timely, and Rand’s proven dedication to addressing the general public about the subject means that her work may well also impact current and future space policy debates.

Kranzberg Dissertation Fellowship

This award is in memory of the cofounder of SHOT, and honors Melvin Kranzberg’s many contributions to developing the history of technology as a field of scholarly endeavor and SHOT as a professional organization. The $4,000 award is given to a doctoral student engaged in the preparation of a dissertation on the history of technology broadly defined and may be used in any way chosen by the winner to advance the research and writing of that dissertation. The 2015 fellowship was awarded to Matthew Hockenberry of New York University for “Far Corners of the Earth: A Media History of Logistics, 1865–1969,” with the following citation:

Matthew Hockenberry...

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