Opening the Black Box of Outer Space
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Opening the Black Box of Outer Space: the Case of Jason-3 _______________________________________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Geography Department at the University of Missouri—Columbia In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts _______________________________________ by JULIE D. SAPERSTEIN Dr. Mark Palmer, Advisor May 2017 Approval Page The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the thesis entitled OPENING THE BLACK BOX OF OUTER SPACE, THE CASE OF JASON-3 Presented by Julie D. Saperstein, a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. Professor Mark Palmer Professor Soren Larsen Professor Amit Prasad ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Mark Palmer, for providing me with ample encouragement throughout the many stages of my thesis. I would like to thank Dr. Soren Larsen for listening to many weeks of Thesis Updates and griping as well as for providing helpful and timely feedback. I suppose I should acknowledge my wife and parents for their immense emotional support and for pretending to understand what I’ve tried to accomplish here. And finally, I would like to acknowledge Boxed Wine and my cat, a duo that sustained me through many-an evening reading His Highness Bruno Latour. ii Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II PART I. INTRODUCTION 1 SOME POINTS OF CLARIFICATION AND DEFINITIONS 4 SOME DEFINITIONS 6 PART II. LITERATURE REVIEW 8 ASTROPOLITICS 8 POLITICAL SCIENCE AND REALISM 10 ASTROPOLITICS AND REALISM 12 CLASSICAL GEOPOLITICS 15 CONTEMPORARY GEOPOLITICS AND ASTROPOLITICS 20 GEOPOLITICS, SYMBIOTIC REALISM AND OTHER REALIST CRITIQUES 22 CRITICAL GEOPOLITICS AND ASTROPOLITICS 23 GEOGRAPHY, MACDONALD AND ANTI-ASTROPOLITICS 26 GEOGRAPHY AND ACTOR-NETWORK THEORY 28 PART III. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 32 INTRODUCTION TO ACTOR-NETWORK THEORY 37 BLACK BOXES 38 CENTRES OF CALCULATION 39 METHODOLOGICAL SYMMETRY 40 THE FLATTENING OF THE LANDSCAPE 43 POWER AND THE SOCIAL 45 ONTOLOGICAL MULTIPLICITY AND GENERALIZED SYMMETRY 45 REASSEMBLING 46 THE USEFULNESS OF ANT 47 ANT IN PRACTICE, OR HOW ANT IS ACTUALLY DONE 48 CONCLUSION 53 PART IV. METHODS 54 RESEARCH DESIGN 54 PART I, FOLLOWING THE PAPER TRAIL 57 PART II, PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS 58 ANALYSIS 58 LIMITATIONS AND STRUCTURE 59 PART I: SITUATE THE PROBLEM 60 SCENE: THE CLIMATE OF OCEANOGRAPHY, SATELLITES AND NASA PREDATING T/P 61 PART II: THE STARTING POINT OF THE WORK-NET 67 PROBLEMATIZATION 72 PROBLEMATIZATION HIERARCHY: OR, HOW A PROBLEM ONCE DEEMED IMPORTANT, DIES 84 iii PART III: INTERDEFINITION OF THE ACTORS 87 ORBIT DETERMINATION, A CLOSER LOOK AT SPOKESPERSONS WOCE: ACTING IN CONCERT, AND THE PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH IT 103 WHAT’S IN A NAME? HOW A BACKSLASH CAME TO BE. 107 DEFINING THE ACTORS: A CONTRACTUAL PROCESS 109 PART IV: INTERESSEMENT 111 NEGOTIATING WITH CONGRESS, A MOBILIZING OF ALLIES 111 INTERESSEMENT, OR HOW A GLOBAL EXPERIMENT FOUND ITS PURPOSE 119 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: A STRONG GROUP OF ACTORS EMERGES 123 PART V: ENROLMENT 126 THE SCIENCE INVESTIGATIONS PLAN, A STUDY OF ENROLMENT 126 INSTRUMENTS 136 THE ALTIMETER 137 EXPERIMENTAL ALTIMETER 138 DORIS, A LADY WHO GETS AROUND 138 GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM DEMONSTRATION RECEIVER (GPSDR) 139 TOPEX MICROWAVE RADIOMETER (TMR) 139 THE ANTENNA SHARING PLAN 139 ALGORITHMS 140 RE-VERIFY, OR WHEN ACTORS ARE SUBJECT TO REVIEW 141 CENTERS OF CALCULATION, OR PLACES WHERE WORK AMASSES 146 SCENE: LAUNCH LEADUP 150 SCENE: THE LAUNCH OF T/P: WHEN ACTING PAY(LOAD)S OFF 151 PART V. CONTROVERSIES 153 THE JOINT STEERING GROUP, OR HOW CONTROVERSIES ARE SOLVED 153 MONEY, MONEY, MONEY (AND OTHER THINGS THAT DELAY LAUNCHES) 153 CONGRESS AS AN OPP, AGAIN? 156 PART VI. AN ENDURING WORK-NET 160 ENSURING CONTINUITY, OR HOW TWO SATELLITES WORK TOGETHER 166 WHEN AN ACTOR DIES (OR HOW JASON-1 IS PUT TO REST) 168 THE FUTURE OF TOPEX/POSIEDON 170 V. CONCLUSIONS 173 WORKS CITED 181 APPENDIX A 193 APPENDIX B 193 APPENDIX C 194 APPENDIX D 194 APPENDIX E 195 APPENDIX F 196 APPENDIX G 197 APPENDIX H 198 iv Part I. Introduction A grainy voice sounds over a radio: T-minus 30 seconds. The video is hazy with fog, the white tip of the rocket barely protruding above the descended stratus cloud. Another voice sounds over the video: T-minus 15. At ten seconds to go, two voices state the number almost simultaneously, and one begins counting down like a sports announcer detailing a breakaway football run. At two seconds, the engines fire, sending a bright burst of yellow-orange into view. A calm succession of voices follow the liftoff, detailing various aspects of the rocket’s progress, the din of thrusters beating in the background. “Velocity is 280 millimeters per second…” “First stage propulsion remains nominal…” The video moves from color to grayscale and is crackling dangerously, the rocket almost completely out of view. The image is black around the edges. Curved. Looking like something out of Dr. Strangelove or a 1960s Cold War propaganda short. “Launch plus two minutes.” “Vehicle is supersonic.” “Vehicle has reached maximum aerodynamic pressure.” Two people begin talking over one another awkwardly and the video finally shoots to the ‘situation room.’ A number of humans behind dual monitors folded like wings. “Flight calls coming from the SpaceX launch and control center on North Vandenberg Air Force Base…” “And the ferring is off! Applause here at the Mission Directive Center.” There is polite clapping, and the video ends. The launch of JASON-3 was a feat of international collaboration, a lofty goal of monitoring climate change brought to materiality in the form of a 566 pound rectangular hunk of metal interrupted by awkward disclike protrusions and other objects (one of which looks like a miniature RPG launcher). It looks messy, haphazard and, frankly, unattractive—much like the messy work-net that enacted it. This messy work-net physically spans across the Atlantic Ocean from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA in the United States to EUMETSAT in Germany to CNES in France and JAXA in Japan. This satellite program 1 was also part of a vast international effort to better understand the ocean and Earth systems, and forms part of a larger United States-centric network called the Earth Observing System and an international effort called the World Ocean Circulation Experiment that each spanned many countries and two decades. This thesis will focus on the process of forging ties and relationships that acted to produce Jason-3—the relational spaces—as well as the centers of calculation—the physical spaces—that comprise the disaggregated Geography of Jason-3. To describe the story of Jason-3 I will be using Actor-Network Theory, a method that will help me to open the black box of satellites— and, more broadly, humanized outer space—to the scrutiny of Geography, which is uniquely equipped to explore the heterogeneity and complexity of the anthropocentric Final Frontier. Outer space has been colonized by technology as much as it has been colonized by humans—but we nary acknowledge the intricate and novel relationships between humans, technology and terra firma that have combined to create a humanized outer space. Rhetoric focuses almost solely on the human aspect of this trifecta, situating it at the Westphalian nation-state level and obscuring the reality of how satellites are envisaged, produced and how they, in turn, shape human life on earth. The case study of Jason-3 is by no means representative of all satellite programs, but it is a unique study of how, where and by whom this satellite program came to fruition. It also looks at this program’s eventual impacts on terra firma because, as we well can imagine, satellites do things for humans. In the interests of not blaspheming Actor-Network Theory, I will not pose questions too general and will, instead, leave the 2 readers to come to their own conclusions about what this case study might mean beyond this immediate program. Thus, the research questions this thesis asks are: 1.) How was the work-net that formed Jason-3 formed? 2. What are the geographies of the Jason-3 satellite program? Goals and Objectives: The goal of this research is to better understand the composition of humanized outer space as well as to bolster the tentative presence of critical Geography in outer space by providing a unique case study that contrasts traditional outer space narratives. The discrete objectives of this research are: 1.) To trace the Jason-3 satellite program from its problematization (origin) point to its launch. 2.) To trace the geographies of the Jason-3 satellite program. 3.) To identify the actors and centres of calculation in the Jason-3 satellite program. Literature and Methods, a Preview In this thesis, I will first situate my topic in outer space and Geography literature. I then will describe the methods and theoretical framework of my research. My research will then flow semi-chronologically through the creation, implementation, launching and operation of this program, focusing on the moments of problematization, interdefinition of the actors, interessement, enrolment and controversies that define this program. Actor-Network Theory literature calls for the opening of black boxes to reveal the masked work-nets within. Outer space and satellites have, as yet, remained relatively untouched by this field. As ANT emphasizes the use of case studies, I will be contributing both a further case study to the field and a new interpretation of Callon’s 1986 “Scallop” paper [footnote with full citation], which is used as a framework for this 3 work. Callon’s Scallop paper shows how the theoretical concepts of ANT can be applied to a specific case study.