A sample location from the Sampling Quadruple Assemblages Research Experiment (SQuARE) in Square 03 in the International Space Station’s starboard maintenance work area. An open crew berth is visible on the right. The yellow dotted line indicates the boundaries of the sampling area. Credit: NASA/ISSAP/Walsh et al., 2024, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0
New results from the first archaeological fieldwork conducted in space show the International Space Station is a rich cultural landscape, where crews create their own „gravity” instead of Earth’s, adapting modular spaces to suit their needs.
Archeology is usually thought of as the study of the distant past, but it is particularly suited to reveal how people adapted to long-term space travel.
In our described SQuARE experiment New paper At PLOS ONE, we re-imagined a sustainable archaeological method for use in space and got astronauts to implement it for us.
Archeology … in … spaaaace!
The International Space Station is the first permanent human habitation in space. About 280 people have visited it in the last 23 years.
Our team has reviewed the footage Photographs, religious symbols and artwork Created by team members from various countries, Observed the goods It returned to Earth, and was used to examine NASA’s historic photo archive Relationships between team members Those who serve together.
We’ve also studied simple technologies like Velcro and resealable plastic bags, which astronauts use to recreate the terrestrial effect of gravity in a microgravity environment — to put things where you left them, so they don’t float.
Most recently we collected data on how the crew used materials inside the space station by adapting one of the more traditional archeological techniques, the „shovel test pit.”
On Earth, after an archaeological site is identified, a grid of one meter squares is laid out, and some of these are excavated as „test pits”. These models give a sense of the overall site.
In January 2022, we asked the space station crew to set up five square sampling areas. We chose square spaces that encompass areas such as work, science, exercise, and leisure. The crew also chose the sixth part based on their own ideas. Our study was funded by the International Space Station National Laboratory.
Then, for 60 days, the team photographed every day to document each square within its boundaries. Everything in space culture has an acronym, so we called this activity the Sampling Quadruple Assemblies Research Experiment, or SQuARE.
The resulting photographs show the richness of the space station’s cultural landscape, while revealing just how far life in space is from images of science fiction fantasy.
The space station is messy, messy, cramped, and dirty. There are no boundaries between where crews work and where they rest. There is little to no privacy. Not even a shower.
What we saw in the squares
Now we can present the results from the analysis of the first two squares. One is located in the US Node 2 block, where there are four crew berths and connections to European and Japanese laboratories. Visiting spacecraft often stop here. A wall where our Target Maintenance Work Area or MWA is located. There is a blue metal panel with 40 velcro squares, and a table below for adjusting devices or performing experiments.
NASA plans to use the area for maintenance. However, we found no evidence of maintenance, and only a few scientific measures. In fact, for 50 of the 60 days covered in our survey, the square was used only for storage, and it may not even be used there.
The amount of velcro here made it the perfect spot For this savings. About half (44%) of all items recorded were related to possession of other items.
The other square we ended up in was the US Node 3 block, where there are exercise machines and restrooms. This is a favorite part of the space station crew, with a seven-sided cupola window and passageway to the storage modules.
This wall had no designated function, so it was used for selective purposes, such as storing a laptop, antibacterial testing, and resealable bags. It was also where a team member kept their toilet box for 52 days during SQuARE.
It kind of makes sense to put exercise machines that every astronaut uses for hours every day and one’s toilets next to the toilet. But this is a very public place, and others pass by constantly. The location of the toilet cubicle shows how inadequate the facilities are for hygiene and privacy.
What does this mean?
Our analysis of squares 03 and 05 helped us understand how Velcro-like restraints create a kind of unstable gravity.
Constraints used to hold an object create active gravity, while those not in use represent potential gravity. Artifact analysis shows how much potential gravity exists at each location.
The main focus of the space station is scientific work. To do this, astronauts must sort through a large number of objects. Square 03 shows how they converted a surface into half-houses to maintain various items while traveling around the station.
Our data suggest that designers of future space stations such as Commercial Currently scheduled for low-Earth orbit, or Gateway station Built for lunar orbit, storage should be a high priority.
Square 05 shows how a public wall space was requested for personal storage by an unknown group member. We already know that the arrangements are less than ideal for privacy, but the consistency of the toilet bag in this space shows how staff are adapting spaces to compensate.
It is important to note that our conclusions are evidence-based. Analysis of the first two squares suggests that data from all six will provide additional insights into humanity’s longest surviving space habitat.
The current plan is to bring a space station Down from orbit In 2031, this experiment may be the only chance to collect archaeological data.
The authors gratefully acknowledge the work of our collaborators Shawn Graham, Chantal Brousseau, and Salma Abdullah.
Justin St. B. WalshProfessor of Art History, Archeology and Space Studies, Chapman University And Alice GormanAssociate Professor in Archeology and Space Studies, Flinders University
This article has been republished Conversation Under Creative Commons License. Read on Original article.