Froehlich A. (ed.) Outer Space and Popular Culture: Influences and Interrelations

Springer, 2020. — 181 p. — (Southern Space Studies Series). — ISBN: 978-3-030-22656-5.This book provides detailed insights into how space and popular culture intersect across a broad spectrum of examples, including cinema, music, art, arcade games, cartoons, comics, and advertisements. This is a pertinent topic since the use of space themes differs in different cultural contexts, and these themes can be used to explore various aspects of the human condition and provide a context for social commentary on politically sensitive issues. With the use of space imagery evolving over the past sixty years of the space age, this is a topic ripe for in-depth exploration. The book also discusses the contrasting visions of space from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the reality of today, and analyzes space vehicles and habitats in popular depictions of space from an engineering perspective, exploring how many of those ideas have actually been implemented in practice, and why or why not (a case of life imitating art and vice versa). As such, it covers a wide array of relevant and timely topics examining intersections between space and popular culture, and offering accounts of space and its effect on culture, language, and storytelling from the southern regions of the world.
Based on a cooperation project involving researchers from Africa and Europe, who enrich the publication with their various views and experiences.
This book is a very useful read for anyone interested in space and the rapid changes that are happening in this amazingly innovative field.The Influence of Mass Media on Society’s Views of Space Travel During the Cold War
Space and Media
The Use of Space in a Meaningful Manner as Part of Popular Culture in the Form of the Science Fiction Film
The Role of Space in Aesthetic and Practical Design of Automobiles: A Look at Five Examples
Space Robots
Artificial Gravity in Popular Culture
Youngsters, Dreams and Motivation for Space Exploration
Clowns in Space: An Introduction to Circus Aliens and Spaced-Out Comic Performers
Keeping the Torch Burning for ‘ Good Science ’ in Popular Culture: Video Games, Space, and Education
Regarding Influences of Space on Popular Culture via the Medium of Science Fiction
Unspoiled Space: The Use of Space in Popular Culture as a Caution Against Environmental Degradation on Earth
Predictions of Science Fiction That Came True
Seven Billion Deer in the Headlights
Hope at the Frontier: Firefly and the Value of Space Exploration
The Space Activities of Animals in African Fairy Tales in Light of International Space Regulations.