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https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-love-and-loss-in-outer-space-ceridwen-dovey-on-how-scientists-feel-about-space-objects-228406>
"For many years now, through writing fictional stories and making experimental
films, I have been trying to see things from the point of view of space objects
– real ones that have been launched by humans into outer space.
I’ve imagined the inner and outer lives of space objects like Starman (the
mannequin launched by SpaceX in a midnight-cherry Tesla); the first sculpture
left on the Moon; the International Space Station; and the Voyager spacecraft
now in interstellar space. At heart, my goal has been to understand why humans
pour so much meaning into space objects.
I’ve become fascinated by the emotional attachments many people – and
especially scientists – form with these objects, from small spacecraft to
satellites to space stations. Deep emotions (like grief and love) are often
expressed for these objects by space scientists, astronomers, engineers and
astronauts who would not, in their ordinary line of work, be expected to think
at all about their feelings for inanimate machines or space infrastructure.
“Every object humans have launched into the solar system is a statement,” notes
the space archaeologist Alice Gorman, and each “tells the story of our
attitudes to space at a particular point in time”.
In political theorist Jane Bennett’s definition, an object is enchanting if it
leaves humans “transfixed, spellbound” and “struck and shaken”. This is almost
always the case for space objects. They seem to give scientists permission to
share emotions that would otherwise be kept hidden."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
