Doctoral Dissertation Research: When Worlds Collide: Terrestrial Places and Outer Spaces

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

This dissertation research explores the practice and scientific arguments of planetary scientists, suggesting that the concept of place is fundamental to understanding extraterrestrial landscapes. To do so, doctoral candidate Lisa Messeri will examine how three space science communities employ different methods of practice to achieve the same goal: producing knowledge about other planets. Using ethnographic methods, Messeri tracks research activities of MIT astronomers, NASA Ames planetary geologists, and Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) simulation participants. She suggests that place has an important role for each of these communities and shapes how they study outer space. Planets, as scientific objects, are transformed into worlds that can be explored and mapped; worlds that are more like terrestrial kin than alien others. Astronomers at MIT studying planets in other solar systems, transform numerical counts of photons into complex worlds with atmospheres and weather, imbuing elements of place and thus familiarity onto these distant objects. Instead of creating an Earth-like place in space, NASA planetary geologists and crews of Mars Society's MDRS create spaces on Earth that resemble extraterrestrial landscapes. Planetary geologists at NASA Ames in Moffett Field California conduct field research in Mojave Desert, Yellowstone National Park, and other locations of geologic interest with the intent of learning more about features on Mars, Venus, or the moons of Jupiter. In Utah's San Rafael Desert, the Mars Society has built a permanent habitat occupied by participants on two-week long missions. These participants simulate the experience of being part of an early Martian colony charged with conducting geologic surveys of the alien environment. Simulation members imagine they are on Mars, seeing the landscape outside their habitat as a Martian place, not as Utah. This project moves beyond questioning the role of place in science with respect to the laboratory and field, questioning instead how processes of place-making occur in conjunction with knowledge creation.