AIAA SPACE 2007 Conference & Exposition AIAA 2007-6076 18 - 20 September 2007, Long Beach, California
The Globalization of Space – The Astrosociological Approach
Marilyn Dudley-Flores* and Thomas Gangale† OPS-Alaska, 2262 Magnolia Avenue, Petaluma, California 94952 USA
[Abstract] The primary author coined the phrase “globalization of space” in the 1990s in lectures and presentations, thus the term was conceived in the sociological record. And, though texts and journal articles on sociology are full of studies of the phenomenon of globalization, sociologists are not serious about the study of those aerospatial events that made possible the extent of modern globalization. And, although it is in their purview, they do not keep track of advancements in the aerospace industry that can provide clues to where globalization is taking human societies. On the other hand, the “globalization of space” is referenced by a host of organizations connected to the aerospace community (i.e., NASA, the Air Force Academy, et al.). However, to the reverse of the sociological community, aerospace organizations have little concept of social factors at varying levels of analysis that can provide clues to where human societies are heading in space – a destination that will impact aerospace industries. The authors advocate for taking the astrosociological approach, a merging of social science and aerospace perspectives in order to examine the coming benefits and challenges to the globalization of space. Several topics, near-term to long-term, discussed in this report include: