Astrosociology (Social Science of Space Exploration)

Abstract

Discussions concerning science and technology convergence too often ignore the social sciences. This is not the case here, as the focus is on a relatively newly emerging and increasingly relevant social science field. Astrosociology is an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary field that promotes and represents convergence of the physical/natural sciences and the social/behavioral sciences on all matters pertaining to humanity’s interests and activities in space and the consequences of these activities for people on Earth. While political science and economics have sustained a strong interest in space, interest on the part of anthropology, sociology, and several fields of psychology has been low. Also, with the exception of selected space science research areas including astrobiology, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, and the protection of the Earth from asteroids and comets, the receptivity of physical and natural scientists to inputs from the social and behavioral sciences has been low. Increasing synergy between the “hard” and “soft” sciences requires increasing interest within both the social and behavioral sciences and encouraging receptivity on the part of physical sciences. This chapter emphasizes the need for convergence, the barriers to convergence, and potential approaches to reduce these barriers. Achievement of unprecedented levels of collaborative synergy is possible with increased levels of sustained convergences. This is possible by increasing social science literacy among the public and “hard scientists” and developing win-win research projects that accommodate varied interests and goals. SETI, astrobiology, and planetary defense serve as specific examples of successful convergence efforts, though they involve social scientists in relatively small numbers. These examples demonstrate both the limited successes and the largely untapped potential of the social sciences to contribute to space education and research.