Designing a Cosmonaut: The Technopolitics of Automation in the Soviet Human Space Program, 1961-1986

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Project SummaryThis project addresses a fundamental tension within the Soviet human space program: a clash between spacecraft designers push for complete automation and the aspirations of the cosmonaut corps to play an active role in controlling space missions. It explores various institutional, social, cultural, and political factors that shaped the Soviet approach to spacecraft control, and examines how the Soviet emphasis on automation influenced the professional identity of cosmonauts, the public image of space exploration, and the outcome of the space race. Objectives and Methods This project aims to conduct a comprehensive critical analysis of spacecraft designers, cosmonauts, and human engineering specialists perspectives, examine the division of functions between human and machine at different stages in the Soviet space program, place human-machineissues in a larger technical, social, and political context, investigate the consequences ofchoices made by Soviet space engineers, and draw lessons from these historical developments for todays understanding of human-machine interaction in complex technological systems. The project will result in a book manuscript for the Johns Hopkins University Press. The project develops the theoretical concept of technopolitics in connection with analytical perspectives offered by science and technology studies, and studies human-machine interaction within the conceptual framework developed by historical studies of scientific instrumentation. The project combines archival studies of recently declassified documents, in-depth interviews with spacecraft designers, cosmonauts, and human engineering specialists, and examination of museum artifacts.Intellectual Merit This study will reevaluate the history of the Soviet human space program by showing the centrality of human-machine issues for spacecraft control engineering and by examining the impact of the debates over these issues on Soviet space policy. It will illuminate the role of the military context in shaping civilian technologies in the Soviet space program. By investigating how the division of function between human and machine on board is linked to the division of power among different professional groups involved in the space program, this project will further the understanding of the role of social context in shaping technological design. A comparison of different approaches to automation in the American and Soviet space programs will help define what is unique about these programs, to understand the diversity of engineering cultures within the two space programs, and to determine the role of national context in shaping technological development. Broader Impacts The book resulting from this project will be intended for use in advanced undergraduate and graduate-level courses on space history, Soviet history, and the history of technology during the Cold War. This study will have theoretical significance for the history and social study of technology in general, suggesting a new framework for analyzing the social aspects of automation in different cultural and political contexts. This project will also contribute to the current debates about the role of human vs. robotic space exploration and about the proper role of human operator in complex, high-risk technological systems.