Alice Gorman

Alice Gorman is an internationally recognised professor in the field of space archaeology and author of the award-winning book "Dr. Space Junk vs the Universe: Archaeology and the Future". She is an Associate Professor at Flinders University in Adelaide and a heritage consultant with over 30 years of experience working with Indigenous communities in Australia. Gorman is also Vice-Chair of the Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and a specialist member of the International Scientific Committee on Space Heritage of ICOMOS. The Asteroid 551014 Gorman was named after her. Together with Dr. Justin Walsh, she co-directed the first archaeological expedition conducted outside of Earth, on the International Space Station. In this expedition, they aimed to see what archaeological techniques could reveal about life in space. By analysing thousands of photographs over the ISS's lifespan, they showed how the station's crew used images and icons to reinforce their social affiliations and imbue the station modules with spiritual meaning; how they created temporary gravity by strategically placing Velcro and other fastening devices. What excites the professor is the possibility of applying the results to new space habitat projects. Influencing the future so concretely is not something most archaeologists can do, Gorman said. The professor states that at this moment, there are numerous missions planned for the Moon and much speculation about the first human mission to Mars and argues that the human relationship with space is rapidly changing, with space tourists taking suborbital trips on commercial rockets and "emerging space nations" trying to keep up with established spacefaring nations.