Scientific Imagination - research proposal

Sabine Winters

Utrecht University

Mission planners use imagination to envision potential scenarios and develop contingency plans in case of unexpected events. How do you decide where to land on Mars with limited data about the environment? They use imagination on-the-fly to deal with events that were not in the contingency plans. The scientists and engineers use imagination leading up to launch, anticipating needs and planning for technology that hasnt been invented yet. What would it be like for an astronaut living on Mars in habitats that havent been designed yet? What are the potential applications of quantum computing in space missions, and how can they be practically implemented? Can dark matter be directly detected, and what experimental evidence might confirm its existence? Could we grow an exoskeleton on people to assist those who are living in space for extended periods of time?

In my PhD thesis, I propose to look at a particular part of space science practice: their use of imagination. During this presentation, I want to briefly elaborate on the research and the steps I intend to take to conduct this study.

The first question is: how do space scientists themselves conceive of the role of imagination is their work?

Second, what is the value of imagination in future space missions (if any), and how can we account for that value, and perhaps even improve it?