The Journal of Astrosociology

The Journal of Astrosociology Volume 2 Astrosociology Research Institute THE JOURNAL OF ASTROSOCIOLOGY VOLUME 2 A Publication of the Astrosociology Research Institute © 2017 Astrosociology Research Institute Cover Art Design Credit: Kathleen D. Toerpe Front Cover Art: Credit NASA/KSC; “Surveyors Wanted” Poster Art. Photo courtesy of NASA. Back Cover Art: Credit NASA; Clockwise: Apollo 8 crew James A. Lovell, Jr., Frank Borman, and William A. Anders debriefing, 1968; Gemini 4 astronaut wives on console, 1965; NASA pilot Sheila Scott, 1971; Astronaut candidates Ronald McNair, Guion Bluford, Jr., and Fred Gregory, 1978; Melba Roy, female NASA computer, 1964. Photos courtesy of NASA. THE JOURNAL OF ASTROSOCIOLOGY Staff Christopher M. Hearsey, Editor-in-Chief Jim Pass, Executive Editor Renato Rivera Rusca, Executive Editor Kathleen D. Toerpe, Executive Editor Luke Idziak, Assistant Editor Kevin Maher, Assistant Editor Matjaz Vidmar, Assistant Editor Editorial Board Sheryl Bishop, Ph.D. P.J. Blount, LL.M., Ph.D. Simone Caroti, Ph.D. Leonard David Peter Detterline, M.A. Christopher D. Johnson, LL.M. Nathan Johnson, LL.M. Ryan L. Kobrick, Ph.D. Ron Kohl, M.S. Geoffrey Notkin, B.F.A. Virgiliu Pop, LL.M. Vadim Rygalov, Ph.D. Alan F. Steinberg, Ph.D. Michael Waltemathe, Ph.D. Frank White, M.Phil. PUBLISHER’S NOTICE All correspondence with reference to this publication or the Astrosociology Research Institute may be directed to P.O. Box 1129, Huntington Beach, CA 92647-1129, or [email protected]. You may visit the webpage of The Journal of Astrosociology at www.astrosociology.org/joa.html. This volume of The Journal of Astrosociology has been provided free of charge to the public in Portable Document Format (PDF) by the Astrosociology Research Institute. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, transmitted, or disseminated in any form or by any means for commercial purposes without prior written permission from the Astrosociology Re- search Institute. The Astrosociology Research Institute grants authorization for individuals to print, copy, or redistribute in original form for private research use on the sole basis that requests for such use are referred directly to the Astrosociology Research Institute. This authorization does not extend to any other kind of copying by any means, in any form, and for any purpose other than private research use. The publisher assumes no responsibility for any statements of fact or opinion expressed in this published volume. THE JOURNAL OF ASTROSOCIOLOGY Volume 2 (2017) Table of Contents Introduction to Volume 2 1 Message from Dr. Jim Pass 5 ARTICLES Ashley Chandler Karp & Alan Steinberg, Exploring the Inspirational Effect of a National Space Program: The Effect of Nationality on Feelings Towards the Ability to Get to Mars 8 Nathanael McIntyre, Criteria for Sustainability in the Orbital Environment 20 Gordon M. Gartrelle, Digging Up the Cosmos: Is Asteroid Mining Economically Feasible? 70 P.A. Hancock, On Bored to Mars 103 P.J. Blount & Jake Fussell, The Space Age Narrative as Reflected in Southern Music 121 Andrew Fergus Wilson, Postcards from the Cosmos: Cosmic Space in Alternative Religion and Conspiracy Theories 133 BOOK REVIEW Kathleen D. Toerpe, Review of Palgrave Handbook of Society, Culture and 150 Outer Space JOURNAL INFORMATION About the Astrosociology Research Institute i Instructions for Authors iii Suggested Topics vii Publication and License Agreement xv Call for Articles: Volume 3 xvii Introduction Welcome to volume two of the Journal of Astrosociology! Volume two represents our con- tinued effort to publish astrosociological based manuscripts that cover a wide range of social sci- ence issues that deal with the two-way relationship between humanity and outer space. Volume two offers a wide spectrum of fascinating articles drawn from a variety of disciplines, including a book review of the “Palgrave Handbook of Society, Culture and Outer Space”, which covers many astrosociological topics. I hope that you find volume two a great, thought-provoking read. In 2014, I founded the Journal of Astrosociology at the Astrosociology Research Institute. As Editor-in-Chief, I am proud to see the journal grow and succeed to advance astrosociological thinking about space and society, but I am just as proud to turn over the Editor-in-Chief duties to Professor Michael Dodge from the University of North Dakota’s Space Studies program. Professor Dodge will begin his duties with volume three of the journal as I step away to pursue new adven- tures. I hope you, the reader, will continue to utilize the journal for research, knowledge, or to acquire a different perspective about how space affects society and society affects space. This interdependency has always peaked my intellectual curiosity and I have spent over ten years help- ing to define and refine the field of astrosociology with my colleagues at the Astrosociology Re- search Institute. Thus, I look forward to future volumes of the journal and the new astrosociological research that it will produce. I wish Professor Dodge and my colleagues at the Astrosociology Research Institute the best as I prepare to leave the institute at the end of the year. Thank you all for supporting the journal, the Astrosociology Research Institute, and the field of astrosociology. *** Volume two of The Journal of Astrosociology consists of six thought provoking articles and one book review. The first article entitled “Exploring the Inspirational Effect of a National Space Program: The Effect of Nationality on Feelings Towards the Ability to Get to Mars” is written by Dr. Ashley Chandler Karp and Dr. Alan Steinberg. The article explores initial research into the measurable effects of inspiration influencing people’s perceptions of getting humans to Mars. As Dr. Karp and Dr. Steinberg state in the article’s abstract: While there are many claims about the inspirational effect of space on young people, there is rarely measurable evidence to support them. This study attempts to identify the potential inspirational effect that a space program has through an ex- amination of young people’s beliefs in mankind’s ability to send humans to Mars. The data suggest that there may be an inspirational or imaginative effect whereby the status of a country’s space program may influence both an individual's feelings toward the ability to get to Mars as well as the lens through which the challenge to reach Mars is viewed. The article is also intended to be a catalyst for discussion and further studies on this topic. The second article entitled “Criteria for Sustainability in the Orbital Environment” is written by Nathanael McIntyre. The article presents studies and offers solutions to the orbital debris issue that is becoming a growing concern in order to access and utilize space in the future. As the author’s abstract states: © 2017 Astrosociology Research Institute 1 Space debris continues to be a growing problem that affects a wide variety of stakeholders in the space environment. For example, the cupola on the International Space Station recently suffered damage after being hit by a small piece of debris smaller than a millimeter (Griggs, 2016). Although several solutions have been proposed, progress on the policy front remains slow. Understanding the interests of the myriad stakeholders affected by the problem and developing criteria to evaluate workability are crucial first steps that need to be taken before any proposed solution can be implemented. The debris issue has been characterized as a “tragedy of the commons,” a concept first popularized by ecologist Garrett Hardin (1968) to de- scribe common-pool resource (CPR) problems. These are problems in which mul- tiple stakeholders rely on a resource, but none own it or are in charge of maintaining it for future use, leading to ruin for all. Later work by Elinor Ostrom (1990) cri- tiqued Hardin’s theory that privatization or government takeover were the only pos- sible solutions to CPR problems, finding numerous real-world examples of resource appropriators, local officials, and other stakeholders successfully working together to manage CPRs. However, more recent scholarship has argued that Ostrom’s framework may not translate directly to every CPR management issue, particularly when looking at global commons such as the oceans, the atmosphere, and outer space, due to issues of size and scale. Still, as the Secure World Founda- tion’s Brian Weeden and Tiffany Chow (2012), and the Naval War College’s Joan Johnson-Freese (2012) have noted, Ostrom’s framework seems to provide a solid foundation for addressing orbital debris and wider questions of space governance, although it is in need of modification. Likewise, work by Paul Stern of the National Research Council concludes that Ostrom’s framework can be useful for governing both the global commons and the risks of emerging technologies with the addition of further principles. Building on the aforementioned research, this article ex- pands on the efforts to adapt Ostrom’s framework and principles to the issues of space debris and space governance. It surveys the approaches used in the management of comparable global commons—including the atmosphere, the Antarctic, the oceans, the emerging commons of the Internet, and existing efforts regarding the orbital environment—and summarizes the lessons they can provide for the debris issue. It also seeks to fully elucidate the interests of each stakeholder group, from established space powers to developing countries, businesses, and the global public in order to develop a set of evaluative criteria that any solution must meet in order to have a chance at both policy effectiveness and political adoption. Finally, this article applies these criteria to a sample set of proposed solutions to the orbital debris problem in order to illustrate their practical utility. Written by Gordon Gartrelle, his article is entitled “Digging Up the Cosmos: Is Asteroid Mining Economically Feasible?” The article explores asteroid mining and offers an economic analysis to provide an answer to the question of whether space resources are economically feasible to extract.

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