국립현대미술관

MMCA Performing Arts: On—boarding: Going to Space, Loving in Space

On—boarding: Going to Space, Loving in Space serves as an arena for sharing knowledge where researchers will present and discuss the latest findings and innovative ideas related to space travel. Held in Seoul, the program brings together experts from around the world to discuss the future of space travel, examining the innovative approach of the space elevator in particular. Furthermore, the program explores how human daily life, social relationships, love, and communication will change if space travel becomes a reality, and imagines the well-being of humanity in the new environment.

▣ Overview

□ Title: On—boarding: Going to Space, Loving in Space

□ Date and time: October 26, 2024 (Sat), 13:00-17:30

□ Location: MMCA Seoul B1, Multi-Project Hall

□ Speaker: Peter A. Swan, Ph.D. (Chief Architect, Member BoD and Past President, ISEC), Adrian Nixon MBA, C.Chem, MRSC. (Director, Chair for Tether, ISEC), John M. Knapman, MA, Ph.D. (Director, Chair for Research, ISEC), Eleanor S. Armstrong, Ph.D. (Space Research Fellow, Institute for Space, University of Leicester)

□ Moderator: Bon-Cheol Ku, Ph.D. (Principal Research Scientist, KIST),  MOON, SOOKYOUNG, Ph.D. Principal Research Scientist, KIST),  Yonghee Sung (Curator, MMCA), Hyewon Lee (Curator and Researcher)

▣ Target audience & how to register

□ Target audience: General public and professionals

□ How to register: Online reservation and on-site registration

▣ Remarks

□ Free participation

□ English-Korean simultaneous translation provided

□ Parking fee reduction not applicable

□ 02-3701-9579

▣ Outline

Welcome to On-boarding: Going to Space, Loving in Space! 

On-boarding: Going to Space, Loving in Space is an arena for sharing knowledge, with the aim of preparing for the next phase of space travel. Held in Seoul, this program will create a meaningful moment where experts from around the world come together to share new knowledge and insights and collectively envision the future of space exploration. The space elevator is currently opening a new frontier for space exploration and is emerging as a key technology that will maximize the potential for human space travel. In this program, experts will discuss how the space elevator could transform our access to outer space in an innovative and sustainable way. Researchers will share their in-depth discussions on the fundamental principles of this advanced technology and the feasibility of its implementation. Furthermore, the program will examine how our daily lives and social relationships will change if space travel becomes a reality. Through Space Sexology, we will explore ways to pursue sex, love, and intimacy in outer space, and probe the possibility of humanity continuing to love in the new environment.

-----------------------

Session 1: Going to Space (160 min)

2024 International Space Elevator Consortium, Seoul

The first session will introduce the space elevator as an alternative and futuristic means of travel to space. To this end, the conference of the International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC), a prestigious research organization in the United States, will be partially held in Seoul. Researchers will shed light on various aspects of the space elevator, from the basic concept to the key physical conditions that enable its implementation and the latest research achievements.

Session 2: Love in Space (90 minutes)

Space Sexology

While the first session addressed the issue of traveling to space, this second session will talk about our lives and relationships once we're there. Will we be able to love, connect, and build intimacy with others in space as we do on Earth? Since the beginning of human space exploration, sexual activity has been explicitly prohibited on the International Space Station (ISS). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has officially stated that no sexual activity has ever occurred during space missions. This highlights the marginalization of human relational needs, such as sex and love, within space development programs, where the primary focus has been on national missions and competitive technological advancements. However, as discourse surrounding long-term space exploration and settlement grows, there is increasing recognition of the importance of research into space sexology for safeguarding the health and well-being of humans in extraterrestrial environments. To explore this emerging field, we will consider a presentation by Dr. Eleanor Armstrong, founder of EXO-MOAN, a design studio dedicated to investigating sex, intimacy, care, and consent in space, to promote more intimate and sustainable human experiences in space travel.

▣ Participant

□ Speaker

Peter A. Swan, Ph.D, is a member of BoD, Space Elevator Development Corporation, and the Chief Architect of the International Space Elevator Consortium while leading teams to further the Space Elevator concepts. Dr. Swan is very active inside the National Space Society with leadership in each year’s International Space Development Conference, the Roadmap Document team, the SpacEdge Academy, and their Center of Educational Excellence. He is also very active, as an Academician of the International Academy of Astronautics and as the past Chair of Commission 6. He has edited three major Cosmic Studies on Space Elevators and Space Mineral Resources for the Academy. He is a fellow of the British Interplanetary Society and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. 

Adrian Nixon MBA, C.Chem, MRSC. is a Director and Chair for Tether of the International Space Elevator Consortium and an advisory council member of Stellar Modal the space transportation association. He is a founding director of Nixene Publishing Ltd and also the Editor of the Nixene Journal. This is a monthly publication for international subscribers that provides clarity and insight into the fast-moving world of graphene and 2D materials. He began his career as a scientist and is a Chartered Chemist and Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry. As an industrial chemist, he worked for a multinational chemicals company in Technical Service and R&D roles where he created several patents. Since 2014 he has returned to his enduring interest in science and is now focused on the world of graphene and other 2D materials.

John M. Knapman, MA, Ph.D. is the Director and Chair for Research of the International Space Elevator Consortium and a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society. He graduated with a first-class degree in mathematics at the University of Cambridge, England, in 1969. He was awarded a Ph.D. for research in artificial intelligence at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1976. In 1969 he joined IBM United Kingdom Ltd., where he held many different roles in customer support, product development, and research. Latterly, he was a senior product architect. He took early retirement in 2003 and worked on developing and improving a concept called the Launch Loop, originated by Keith Lofstrom and sometimes called the Launch Loop. He joined the International Space Elevator Consortium in 2010 and became Director of Research in 2012. His relevant publications include 10 refereed journal papers, 15 conference papers, and 2 book contributions. In addition, he has co-authored five ISEC reports. In previous work, he filed 24 patents.

Eleanor S. Armstrong, Ph.D. is a Space Research Fellow at the University of Leicester, UK, where she leads the Constellations Lab. She was awarded her PhD at University College London, UK, in 2020; and since then has held positions at the University of Delaware and Stockholm University, and visiting positions at, among others, the University of Cambridge, Ingenium Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation, New York University, and University of Vienna. Armstrong is a Trustee of Pride in STEM and co-lead of the international biannual conference Space Science in Context.  With Akvilė Terminatė, Armstrong runs EXO-MOAN a design studio that explores sex, intimacy, care, and consent in the context of outer space. Their work has been included in the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021 for the Lithuanian Pavilion, and the CITY X Venice Virtual Pavilion; and featured in print media including The Future of Sex and IFL Science. Her research focuses on queer feminist approaches to social studies of outer space, particularly the presentation of femininities, feminisms, and femmes in public discourses about outer space, published in journals such as Queer-Feminist Science and Technology Studies Forum; Quest: History of Space Flight Quarterly, and in edited volumes including Space Feminisms, Queering Science Communication and Routledge Handbook on Critical Social Studies of Outer Space. 

□ Moderator

Bon-Cheol Ku, Ph.D. earned his Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Since 2009, he has been conducting research at the Institute of Advanced Composite Materials at KIST in Jeonbuk, where he is currently a principal research scientist. Dr. Ku has been actively involved in the development of next-generation high-performance carbon fibers based on carbon nanotubes at KIST, and he has a keen interest in their application in space elevator cables.

MOON, SOOKYOUNG, Ph.D. received her Ph.D. in applied chemical engineering from Osaka University, Japan, and worked as a researcher at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and is currently a principal investigator at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). She is currently working on a number of projects on the development of new advanced materials based on materials science, focusing on the application of new materials in space and aerospace.

Yonghee Sung is a curator at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, where he has curated various performing arts projects. His curatorial works include Space Elevator(2024), Multiverse(2021), and  A Museum for All, a Museum for Dogs(2020). 

Hyewon Lee is a curator, researcher, and publisher based in Seoul, whose work delves into the intersections between socially and culturally defined norms and their opposites—sacred and profane, light and dark—along with the uncanny sensations that arise from these tensions. Her notable exhibitions and projects include The Radiant City, Dark Rapture―Dystopic Images of the Modern City (SeMA Bunker, 2024), Amado Lab Noir Urbanism (Amado Art Space, 2024), and Modern Grotesque Times (space xx, 2021). In her publishing work, she co-translated Noir Urbanisms: Dystopic Images of the Modern City (2024) and Monstrosity: Human Monsters in Visual Culture (2021). In 2024, Lee was selected as a curator of the SeMA's EMERGING ARTISTS & CURATORS.