Space Agency: Automation, Autonomy, and Acid Astronautics

This essaylooksatthe figure of the cyborg via its origins in mid-twentieth century Americanastronautics.Itbegins by comparingdifferentapproaches to the›spacecyborg‹,helping to situate itwithin the distinctive culturalpreoccupations of its timesand places. The discussion thenproceedstoconsidertheAmericancyborg’srootsintwodiscursive regimes:thatsurroundingmilitarymasculinities,and that surrounding the non-human or de-humanizedmedical test subject. Via an analysis of the 1976sci-fi novelMan Plusby Frederik Pohl,the essay explores how thisdual heritagegenerates tensions intermsofgender, before concluding with an analysis of the waysin whichthe cyborg’smutable em-bodimentruns agroundon the perceivedfixity of human sexuality. How might we use the historicalconcept of the cyborg to queerthe notion of›par ticipantevolution‹today?