First-Ever ISS Archaeological Survey Reveals Unexpected Findings

The connection “archaeology” conjures up countless images successful the taste imagination: past civilizations, mislaid artifacts, and—as overmuch arsenic we effort to interruption distant from cliché—Indiana Jones. But a caller archaeological survey was done otherwise than immoderate other. It was done successful space.

The archaeological survey is the Sampling Quadrangle Assemblages Research Experiment, oregon SQuARE, and it’s comprised of six quadrate survey areas aboard the International Space Station, astir 254 miles (408 km) supra our planet. In a survey published contiguous successful PLOS One, a probe squad revealed their findings from 2 of the sampling locations. One of the locations (pictured above) is simply a attraction country connected the ISS; the different is simply a catch-all country adjacent the latrine and the astronauts’ workout equipment.

The squad recovered that the mode spaces were assigned meaning didn’t ever conform with the mode they were really used. In their 60-day survey, the attraction country was hardly utilized for maintenance, and lone lightly utilized for subject purposes.

“It was really a retention area, similar the pegboard successful your store oregon plot shed, successful this lawsuit made imaginable by the tremendous magnitude of Velcro successful this location,” said survey pb writer Justin Walsh, an archaeologist astatine Chapman University and laminitis and co-director of the International Space Station Archaeological Project, successful an email to Gizmodo.

“We realized that the historical photos showed thing antithetic due to the fact that cipher had ever bothered to instrumentality a photograph of the workstation erstwhile determination wasn’t idiosyncratic utilizing it,” helium added. “That was an important acquisition astir the narration of the historical photos to semipermanent usage patterns.”

The ISS seen supra Earth. Image: NASA/Roscosmos

The task began successful 2015 arsenic a retrospective reappraisal of the mode spaces connected the ISS are used. But archival imagery lone showed truthful much, truthful the squad decided to behaviour an archaeological survey on the station. Once the squad got the motion from the ISS National Laboratory, it took little than a twelvemonth to acceptable the task up aboard the station.

“I deliberation we whitethorn person been 1 of the fastest payloads, from connection to execution, successful the past of the ISS,” Walsh said.

The fieldwork took spot betwixt January and March 2022. The 2nd probe space—a hitherto-unimportant blank partition adjacent the station’s latrine and workout area—was utilized by 1 unit subordinate arsenic a spot for their toiletries. Walsh pointed retired that wherever astronauts tin enactment their idiosyncratic items “seems to person been a spot of an afterthought for the ISS, and it’s an contented that each idiosyncratic who visits determination has to woody with.”

So far, lone 2 of the illustration squares are published on, but the squad plans to study findings from much of the survey areas adjacent year.

“There are a fewer cardinal takeaways. First, we showed that it’s imaginable to bash good, productive archaeology successful space, adjacent if the investigators are connected the ground,” Walsh said. “Second, we decidedly showed that places successful the abstraction presumption are utilized successful unexpected ways, which is simply a precise quality happening to do,” helium added.

It’s similar however the countertop successful my entryway is present called, “Where We Keep the Mail.” Communication works successful myriad and sometimes enigmatic ways, but successful my humble opinion, things should beryllium named for their circumstantial purpose. However, sometimes spaces are assigned meaning (and a label) earlier the mode they’re really utilized becomes clear.

“Finally, we’ve contributed utile insights that tin beryllium utilized by aboriginal abstraction presumption designers to amended their habitats—we’ve highlighted phenomena that are important but not obvious,” Walsh added. “Given that the ISS is astir apt the astir costly gathering task ever constructed by humans, it’s important to larn from it and deliberation astir however to bash amended going forward.”

Indeed, present is the clip to program however aboriginal quality habitation successful abstraction tin beryllium improved. The ISS is scheduled for status successful 2030, astatine which constituent the presumption volition beryllium deorbited for a controlled clang landing successful the Pacific Ocean. There are concerns that commercialized alternatives to the ISS may not beryllium acceptable successful time for the seasoned collaboration’s retirement.

And too an orbiting, ongoing planetary collaboration successful space, there’s the not-so-small substance of Lunar Gateway, the planned lunar abstraction presumption that volition found a semi-permanent quality beingness connected the Moon. On a bittersweet note, the archaeological enactment connected the ISS volition soon beryllium much akin to accepted archaeology, arsenic the abstraction presumption volition soon walk into history. If we are to instrumentality immoderate lessons from however humans person made usage of the probe station, present is the time.