Into the Extreme: U.S. Environmental Systems and Politics beyond Earth

302 Pages·2018·2.801 MB·English

by  Valerie Olson

INTO THE EXTREME
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INTO
THE
EXTREME
U.S. Environmental
Systems and Politics
beyond Earth
VALERIE OLSON
University of Minnesota Press | Minneapolis | London
Copyright 2018 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechan-
ical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission
of the publisher.
Published by the University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401– 2520
http://www.upress.umn.edu
Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper
The University of Minnesota is an equal- opportunity educator and employer.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Olson, Valerie, author.
Title: Into the extreme : U.S. environmental systems and politics beyond
Earth / Valerie Olson.
Description: Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, [2018] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017056773 (print)| ISBN 978-1-5179-0254-4 (hc) |
ISBN 978-1-5179-0255-1 (pb)
Subjects: LCSH: Space environment. | Space environment–Political aspects. | Extraterrestrial bases.
| Architecture, Postmodern.
Classification: LCC TL1489 .O47 2018 (print) | DDC 629.47/7–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017056773
For Morrigan
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CONTENTS
ABBREVIATIONS ix
INTROducTION: A SySTEm Of SySTEmS 1
1. Metasystem: Making Spaceflight’s Parts 35
2. Connection: The Ecobiopolitics of Space Biomedicine 73
3. Separation: Building Partial Boundaries 109
4. Transhabitation: Universalizing Architecture 143
5. The Solar Ecosystem: Postterrestrial Ecologies and
Economies 181
cONcluSION: fuTuRE SpAcE 217
AckNOwlEdgmENTS 225
NOTES 229
BIBlIOgRAphy 251
INdEx 277
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ABBREVIATIONS
as-can astronaut candidate
as-ho astronaut hopeful
BIO-Plex B ioregenerative Planetary Life Support
Systems Test Complex
Constellation Program N ASA human spaceflight program
(2005–2009)
HDC H abitability Design Center (Johnson
Space Center)
ISS International Space Station
JSC Johnson Space Center (Houston, Texas)
JPL J et Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena,
California)
NASA N ational Aeronautics and Space
Administration
NEO n ear-Earth object (asteroids, comets,
meteoroids, debris with Earth-crossing
orbits)
NEEMO N ASA Extreme Environment Mission
Operations (space analog program)
NOAA N ational Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
NSBRI N ational Space Biomedical Research
Institute (Houston, Texas)
PHO/PHA p otentially hazardous object / potentially
hazardous asteroid
ix