Doctoral Dissertation Research: When Worlds Collide: Terrestrial Places and Outer Spaces

这篇论文的研究探索了行星科学家的实践和科学论证，表明位置的概念是理解外星景观的基础。为此，博士生丽莎·梅塞里将研究三个空间科学界如何使用不同的实践方法来实现相同的目标：产生关于其他行星的知识。使用人种学方法，Messeri跟踪麻省理工学院天文学家、NASA Ames行星地质学家和火星沙漠研究站(MDRS)模拟参与者的研究活动。她认为，这个地方对每个社区都有重要的作用，并塑造了他们研究外层空间的方式。行星作为科学对象，被转化为可以探索和绘制地图的世界；这些世界更像是地球上的亲人，而不是其他外星人。麻省理工学院的天文学家研究其他太阳系的行星，将光子的数值转化为具有大气和天气的复杂世界，为这些遥远的物体注入地点元素，从而使他们熟悉。NASA行星地质学家和火星协会MDRS的工作人员在地球上创造了类似外星景观的空间，而不是在太空中创造一个类似地球的地方。位于加利福尼亚州莫菲特菲尔德的NASA Ames的行星地质学家在莫哈韦沙漠、黄石国家公园和其他地质感兴趣的地点进行实地研究，目的是了解更多关于火星、金星或木星卫星的特征。在犹他州的圣拉斐尔沙漠，火星协会建造了一个永久的栖息地，供为期两周的任务参与者使用。这些参与者模拟了作为早期火星殖民地的一部分的经历，负责对外星环境进行地质调查。模拟成员想象他们在火星上，将栖息地外的风景视为火星人的地方，而不是犹他州。这个项目超越了质疑场所在科学中相对于实验室和领域的作用，而是质疑场所的形成过程是如何与知识创造一起发生的。

This dissertation research explores the practice and scientific arguments of planetary scientists, suggesting that the concept of place is fundamental to understanding extraterrestrial landscapes. To do so, doctoral candidate Lisa Messeri will examine how three space science communities employ different methods of practice to achieve the same goal: producing knowledge about other planets. Using ethnographic methods, Messeri tracks research activities of MIT astronomers, NASA Ames planetary geologists, and Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) simulation participants. She suggests that place has an important role for each of these communities and shapes how they study outer space. Planets, as scientific objects, are transformed into worlds that can be explored and mapped; worlds that are more like terrestrial kin than alien others. Astronomers at MIT studying planets in other solar systems, transform numerical counts of photons into complex worlds with atmospheres and weather, imbuing elements of place and thus familiarity onto these distant objects. Instead of creating an Earth-like place in space, NASA planetary geologists and crews of Mars Society's MDRS create spaces on Earth that resemble extraterrestrial landscapes. Planetary geologists at NASA Ames in Moffett Field California conduct field research in Mojave Desert, Yellowstone National Park, and other locations of geologic interest with the intent of learning more about features on Mars, Venus, or the moons of Jupiter. In Utah's San Rafael Desert, the Mars Society has built a permanent habitat occupied by participants on two-week long missions. These participants simulate the experience of being part of an early Martian colony charged with conducting geologic surveys of the alien environment. Simulation members imagine they are on Mars, seeing the landscape outside their habitat as a Martian place, not as Utah. This project moves beyond questioning the role of place in science with respect to the laboratory and field, questioning instead how processes of place-making occur in conjunction with knowledge creation.