Abstract:
Although space travel is not often discussed in relation to the
environmental crisis, it is proposed here that how the core agent of
space travel, namely the astronaut, is imagined is of cardinal importance
to environmental issues. Two astronaut types are identified in the
analysis: the aspirational astronaut planning to escape Earth out of a
looming sense of eco-anxiety amidst increasing signs of ecological
disaster; and the exiled astronaut who experiences overwhelming
environmental distress or solastalgia as home becomes stranger every
day. The selected images of astronauts are interpreted as eco-imaginaries
that embody a particular disposition in terms of their geo-locality and
climate changes. The aspirational astronaut is explored by a brief slice
into two film depictions, namely Approaching the Unknown (Mark Elijah
Rosenburg, 2016) and Ad Astra (James Gray, 2019). The exiled astronaut
originates from sub-Saharan Africa through the filmed performance work
of the Kinshasha-based duo Michel Ekeba and Eléonore Hellio, working
as the Kongo Astronauts (2021–2022), and an eco-film by Maisha Maene,
entitled Mulika (2022). It is proposed that the diverging eco-imaginaries
are products of where one places Earth in climate debates.
