Earth's mechanical graveyard: Ten Forward to sponsor talk on "space junk" on Dec. 1st
Ten Forward is excited to sponsor Madison Women in Tech's talk on space junk on Thursday, Dec. 1st, featuring Dr. Lisa Ruth Rand, a UW-Madison postdoctoral fellow. Dr. Rand will discuss this orbiting field of technical detritus and how it impacts "scientific moral authority, shifting values of consumption, and Space Age spatial politics."
"Space junk" refers to the more than half a million pieces of debris currently orbiting the Earth, each traveling up to 17,500 miles per hour - fast enough that even a relatively small piece could damage existing satellites (or even spacecraft).
According to NASA, "the rising population of space debris increases the potential danger to all space vehicles, but especially to the International Space Station, space shuttles and other spacecraft with humans aboard."
Dr. Rand: "The history of space junk provides valuable, unprecedented context for an international space policy community considering how to safeguard humanity's future in our increasingly crowded cosmic neighborhood."
WHO
Per Madison Women in Tech's policy, the event is focused on self-identified women who work in the tech industry; men are welcome as guests of women attendees.
WHEN
Thursday, December 1st; socializing from 7 pm to 7:30 pm (with snacks and refreshment provided by Ten Forward), followed by Dr. Rand's presentation.
WHERE
Ten Forward Consulting/Madworks Coworking, 505 S. Rosa Road, Ste. 225; Madison, WI; 53719. (Main entrance is right off Rosa Road)
ABOUT DR. RAND
Dr. Lisa Ruth Rand earned her PhD from the Department of History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania in 2016. Her research plumbs the intersections of the histories of science, technology, and the environment during the Cold War, with a focus on mobile waste and contingent constructions of nature and sustainability.
In addition to the environmental history of outer space, she has also written about gender in American aerospace culture. She is a Research Associate in the Department of Space History at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, an Adjunct Research Associate at the RAND Corporation, and a volunteer urban astronomy educator.
ABOUT WOMEN IN TECH
Madison Women in Tech is a 700-member-plus community organization dedicated to furthering the careers, interests and well-being of women working in the tech industry in Madison, WI. More information on this event and others can be found on the Women in Tech website.