To a considerable degree, the development of contemporary space technologies depends on the conceptual starting points that determine our understanding of outer space and interstellar space, as well as the meanings, ways, and forms of human interventions in space. In the framework of the SEAD (Space Ecologies Art and Design) interdisciplinary collective of artists, scientists, engineers, and activists, and with the help of references to specific projects, artist, biologist, and space systems researcher Angelo Vermeulen and product designer Nils Faber highlight how a polylogue between culture, science and experts from different fields contributes to scientific breakthroughs. Referring to their current E|A|S (Evolving Asteroid Starships) project, they sketch out a way of thinking about a post-planetary future of humanity in space and emphasize how this contemporary vision brings together several generations of science-fictional and scientific ideas.
