The International Space Station has conducted the first-ever archaeological research. Of course, no one dug anything with a shovel, but astronauts, under the guidance of experts from Earth, have studied the “cultural layers” that have accumulated over 30 years of existence in orbit of this man-made facility.
Archaeology on the ISS
The International Space Station (ISS) has been operating for more than 25 years. In fact, this is a considerable amount of time, so scientists decided to conduct something that previously could only be read about in fantasy books — archaeological research in space. And they recently published the first results in the journal PLOS ONE.
Of course, there is no soil on the ISS that can be dug up with a shovel. But astronauts always put something on the walls: documents, photos, icons. The crews constantly change. During its stay in Earth orbit, the station has been visited by about 280 people. So the purpose of the various items that were once attached to the walls with Velcro so they wouldn’t get lost in the weightlessness was forgotten over time, and they were removed and something new was placed.
In this way, whole “cultural layers” were formed, like those well known from the sites of ancient human sites or long-uncleaned dorm rooms. Therefore, the scientists decided to apply to them a method that has proven itself in assessing the attractiveness of an area of the Earth for detailed archaeological research.
It is called “test pits”. Archaeologists select small areas on the surface and excavate them to the maximum available depth, carefully removing layer after layer. They check what they can find in each of them. The ISS decided to use the same methodology.
How the “excavation” went
As part of a study called SQuARE, archaeologists on Earth identified 5 promising sites on the inner surface of the ISS that they found most interesting. They had the size of a square with a side of 1 m and were located in the working, scientific, sports and living areas of the station. The astronauts defined one more such zone by themselves.
Next, the “digging” began. Every day the astronauts photographed what was on the selected sites at that moment. Experts noted that the use of Velcro created an effect similar to the accumulation of “cultural layers” under the influence of gravity, although temporary.
To understand the cultural context, archaeologists also used NASA’s photographic archive. It provided insight into who was on the station at what time, what they were doing, and what relationships they had with other crew members.
What interesting things scientists have found out
One of the most interesting was Squares 03, located in the American Service Module. Four bunks are located here. The module is also used for docking spacecraft. However, the most “test pit” is precisely on the panel that is dedicated to maintenance.
Scientists studied the site for 60 days and discovered that for 50 of those days it was not used at all before the actual maintenance. Most of the time it was just used to store items that were often used in completely different parts of the ISS. As for scientific experiments, which can also be conducted in this zone, they were practically not conducted during the specified period.
Another interesting place turned out to be Squares 05. It is located in the sports area near the observation Cupola module. It has no clear purpose, so it has been used even more chaotically. The scientists also learned a lot of interesting things about other parts of the station.
According to phys.org
