Eternity in Low Earth Orbit: Icons on the International Space Station

Authors

Wendy Salmond, Chapman UniversityFollow
Justin Walsh, Chapman UniversityFollow
Alice Gorman, Flinders University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-17-2020

Abstract

This paper investigates the material culture of icons on the International Space Station as part of a complex web of interactions between cosmonauts and the Russian Orthodox Church, reflecting contemporary terrestrial political and social aairs. An analysis of photographs from the International Space Station (ISS) demonstrated that a particular area of the Zvezda module is used for the display of icons, both Orthodox and secular, including the Mother of God of Kazan and Yuri Gagarin. The Orthodox icons are frequently sent to space and returned to Earth at the request of church clerics. In this process, the icons become part of an economy of belief that spans Earth and space. This practice stands in contrast to the prohibition against displaying political/religious imagery in the U.S.-controlled modules of ISS. The icons mark certain areas of ISS as bounded sacred spaces or hierotopies, separated from the limitless outer space beyond the space station walls.

Comments

This article was originally published in Religions, volume 11, issue 11, in 2020. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11110611

Data associated with this project can be viewed on Open Context and Chapman University Digital Commons.

Recommended Citation

Salmond, Wendy; Walsh, Justin; Gorman, Alice. 2020. "Eternity in Low Earth Orbit: Icons on the International Space Station." Religions 11, no. 11: 611. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11110611

Peer Reviewed

1

Copyright

The authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.