The impact of space technology on society

Abstract

Space technology and the images it has created are credited with having a significant impact on society. In the 1960s, society was undergoing a period of tremendous change, when to be 'modern' was de rigeur. Space exploration was a superlative symbol, a cultural icon of the sixties, and it became a driving force for change within the putative consumer society. Space Age images have been used, particularly in advertising and entertainment, for the past four decades-a trend that seems likely to continue. But it is the application of space technology itself-in communications, navigation, remote sensing and meteorology-which has had the greatest, and often overlooked, impact on society. The paper investigates how space technology and the use of Space Age images has developed since the early days of space exploration, and to what extent they are still a part of our culture.