Ethnographic research of outer space: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract

The scales and categories of human activity are always evolving. The analytical and practical challenges that they pose for ethnographic theory and practice have the potential to consolidate as well as transform research methods and approaches. Drawing on our preliminary fieldwork, we explore how ethnographic practice can bring novel insights to the study of outer space, and map potential areas for future methodological innovation. We identify four challenges for ethnographic research in this context which coalesce around the themes of difference and controversy; connections and contingencies; absence and remoteness; as well as the local and the extraterrestrial. Our aim is to demonstrate that ethnographic practice is not only well-suited for engaging with outer space, but also useful for a critical analysis of some of the most fundamental paradigms of human understanding.