Country Always

Caring for Country

A Corner of the Empire

The Garden Palace

The Holding Pen

The Agricultural Hall

Regional Networks

Across New South Wales

A Museum of Doing

Technological Museum

Expanding Stories

Evolution of the Castle Hill site from botanical research station to Museum Discovery Centre

Transforming the Tramsheds

Powerhouse Stage 1 and the Harwood Building

A Symbol in Time

Sydney Observatory

Ongoing Transformations

Powerhouse Ultimo

Applied Arts and Sciences

Defining the terms in the 21st century

Space Archaeology

Satellites and debris in Earth’s orbit

Powerhouse Renewal

A transformative renewal program across four sites

We Rise

Blak Powerhouse

Powerhouse-1 Mission Launch to the ISS

An initiative of the Powerhouse: Future Space program

2024

Exoskeleton

Powerhouse Parramatta

Powerhouse Parramatta Topping Out

Major construction milestone achieved for the new museum

2023

Stories

Space Archaeology

Satellites and debris in Earth’s orbit

Associate Professor Alice Gorman

‘It's really important that we keep in mind that space isn't just a resource for us to use as much as we like. We actually have to think of what rights space has and what we're leaving for future generations.’

Associate Professor Alice Gorman

Space archaeologist Associate Professor Alice Gorman discusses the accumulation of satellites and debris in Earth’s orbit and our responsibilities to space. Gorman is a leader in the field of space archaeology and author of the award-winning book Dr Space Junk vs the Universe: Archaeology and the Future.

Film

Piece of space debris — 1/2
Space debris, fragment from Skylab space station, landed in Western Australia, 1979
Object No. 94/254/1-1

2/2
Satellite debris, found by T Giles, New South Wales, 1987
Object No. 88/647

Space archaeologists are interested in the same things that archaeologists who study ancient civilisations are. We want to look at how humans use the material world to create their societies and what makes those societies unique or similar over long timespans.

This is about adaptation, but also how humans create their identity through these objects. In 1969, humans set foot on another celestial body for the first time when the . And I think what changed after that was a sort of vision of an enlarged Earth. We are not confined to the surface of Earth anymore. It's something that satisfies a very human need to feel part of something larger and bigger than ourselves.