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		SPACE SOON Art and Human Spaceflight
					TAKING CONTROL: International symposium on the science & culture of human spaceflight Sat 9 & Sun 10 September 2006 ROUNDHOUSE, Chalk Farm Road, London NW1, UK
		Was the Apollo programme, its origins in Cold War posturing, ultimately the most successful art project in history? What do we really gain from human space exploration, culturally and scientifically? How do we design long-term space missions, such as the mooted trip to Mars, so that astronauts are able to have a humanising experience? In an unstable world, who should be the decision makers in the quest for space? Scientists, artists, psychologists and space architects met in this 2-day international symposium to explore the future of space exploration from the human perspective. Sessions include, Habitat Design, Build Your Own Space Programme, the Human Body and Mind in Space, and Adapting to Alien Environments. “Sometimes an inch or a foot is nothing at all, other times it is discomfort or death, it might be here on earth or in outer space … it might simply be in your head.” - Garrett Finney, space architect Symposium Programme Speaker Biographies Abstracts Speakers: Andrew Smith (UK), author of Moondust. discusses how he set out to interview all the remaining nine astronauts who walked on the moon; finding out how they were forever caught between the gravitational pull of the moon and the earth’s collective dreaming. Marko Peljhan (Slovenia), artist, presents the conceptual and technological challenges that are arising in the process of the construction of the first artists’ remote sensing and communications micro-satellite (launch date – third quarter of 2008). Garrett Finney (USA), former senior architect at Habitability Design Center at Johnson Space Center, discusses fun, design, technology, anthropometrics, human factors, fun, performance, objects in motion, transformation, fun, ecology, systems, ergonomics, efficiency, fun, and the future of humans in space. Prof Gro Mjeldheim Sandal (Norway) is one of the world’s leading behavioural scientists studying psychological factors in space. She is currently leading one of the first psychological studies of crews on the International Space Station. Her recent research has focused on the implications of individual and cultural differences. Tim Otto Roth (Germany), artist, introduces his proposed light flash experiment for the International Space Station, an artistic project which highlights the phenomena of light flashes seen by astronauts in space. Dr Kevin Fong (UK), an authority on space medicine, explores the reasons for a mission to Mars, arguing that sending humans to examine the red planet for signs of life will help to answer the question: Are we alone in the universe and what is the likelihood of making ‘contact’? Semiconductor (Joseph Gerhardt and Ruth Jarman) (UK), will discuss and present works from their fellowship at the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory. Sarah Jane Pell (Australia), artist, discusses SubCulture, her underwater habitat vision, in the context of a future lunar habitat mission she has been developing with the International Space University & the NASA Ames Research Centre. Prof Ronald Jones (USA/Sweden), Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Konstfack University, Stockholm, addresses the threat of potentially fatal contamination of the Earth by extraterrestrial microbes brought back from space. With Space Soon artists: Aleksandra Mir (Sweden) Neal White (UK) Ion Sorvin (Denmark) London Fieldworks (Bruce Gilchrist and Jo Joelson) (UK) Michelle Griffiths (UK). Live link-ups to international space science and art specialists, including: Dr Paul D Spudis (US), lunar scientist who has advised the White House on US Space Exploration Policy, establishing a base on the Moon and the first human mission to Mars. Frank Pietronegro and Lowry Burgess (US), space art pioneers, who will report on their recent zero gravity art flight.