Colliding Worlds: Asteroid Research and the Legitimization of War in Space

Social Studies of Science 2007; 37; 499

DOI: 10.1177/0306312706075336

Felicity Mellor

ABSTRACT Over the past 20 years a small group of astronomers
and planetary scientists has actively promoted the idea that an
asteroid might collide with Earth and destroy civilization. Despite
concerns about placing weapons in space, the asteroid scientists
repeatedly met with scientists from the Strategic Defense Initiative
to discuss mitigation technologies.

This paper examines the narrative context in which asteroids were
constructed as a threat and astronomy was reconfigured as an
interventionist science. I argue that conceptualizing asteroids
through narratives of technological salvation invoked a ‘narrative
imperative’ that drew the astronomers towards the militaristic
endings that their stories demanded. Impact-threat science
thus demonstrates both the ways in which scientific research
can be framed by fictional narratives and the ideological ends
that such narratives can serve.

Full article here:

http://sss.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/37/4/499