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The Association of Autonomous Astronauts is a worldwide network of community based groups dedicated to building their own spaceships. The AAA was founded 23 April 1995. Although many of their activities were reported as serious participation in conferences or protests against the militarization of space, some were also considered art pranks, media pranks, or just an elaborate spoof.






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Aaa2
The Association of Autonomous Astronauts is a worldwide network of community based groups dedicated to building their own spaceships. The AAA was founded 23 April 1995. Although many of their activities were reported as serious participation in conferences or protests against the militarization of space, some were also considered art pranks, media pranks, or just an elaborate spoof. The AAA had numerous local chapters which operated independently of one another, with the AAA effectively operating as a collective pseudonym along the lines of Luther Blissett (nom de plume)
Luther Blissett (nom de plume)

Luther Blissett is a multiple-use name, an "open reputation" informally adopted and shared by hundreds of artists and social activists all over Europe and South America since 1994....
.

The Association's ostensible five-year mission, a reference to Star Trek
Star Trek

Star Trek is an American Science fiction on television entertainment series and media franchise. The Star Trek fictional universe created by Gene Roddenberry is the setting of six television series including the original 1966 Star Trek: The Original Series, in addition to ten feature films with Star Trek to be released on May 8,...
, was to "establish a planetary network to end the monopoly of corporations, governments and the military over travel in space". Artists who became involved were often connected to the zine scene
Zine

A zine is most commonly a small circulation, non-commercial publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-publishing work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier on a variety of colored paper stock....
 or mail art
Mail art

Mail art is art which uses the postal system as a medium. The term mail art can refer to an individual message, the medium through which it is sent, or an artistic genre....
 movements. The five year mission's completion was marked at the 2000 Fortean Times
Fortean Times

Fortean Times - "The World of Strange Phenomena" - is a United Kingdom monthly magazine devoted to the Anomaly popularised by Charles Fort....
 conference, although some chapters have continued activities to the present day.

Writer Tom Hodgkinson
Tom Hodgkinson

Tom Hodgkinson is a Great Britain writer and the editor of The Idler , which he established in 1993 with his friend Gavin Pretor-Pinney He was educated at Westminster School....
 described them as "a loose bunch of Marxists, futurists, and revolutionaries on the dole", going on to explicate their mission as "reclaim[ing] the idea of space travel for the common man". To the AAA, he said, "space travel represented an ideal of freedom". Annick Bureaud of Leonardo/OLATS
Leonardo Journal

Leonardo is a journal published by the MIT Press, dedicated to "documenting work at the intersection of the arts, sciences, and technology"....
 viewed their work as "space art" that "combine[d] freely space, cyberspace, raves, esoteric things, techno-music, etc.", calling attention to "how they recycle ... key images (the MIR Space Station, the astronauts on the Moon, etc.) ... mixed with science-fiction (and specially Star Trek) buzz-words or images" and then subject these "sacred icons" to "iconoclastic treatments".

The London chapter participated notably in the J18 Carnival Against Capitalism
Carnival Against Capitalism

The Global Carnival Against Capital took place on Friday, June 18, 1999. It was an international day of protest timed to coincide with the 25th G8 Summit in Cologne, Germany....
 protests during that year's G8
G8

The Group of Eight is a forum for governments of eight nations of the northern hemisphere: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States; in addition, the European Union is represented within the G8, but cannot host or chair....
 summit, with a contingent of AAA members dressed in space suit
Space suit

A space suit is a complex system of garments, equipment and environmental systems designed to keep a person alive and comfortable in the harsh environment of outer space....
s delivering a petition against the militarisation of space
Militarisation of space

The militarisation of space is the placement and development of weaponry and military technology in outer space....
 to the headquarters of Lockheed
Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin is a large Multinational corporation aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the Horizontal integration of Lockheed with Martin Marietta....
. The group was particularly concerned about the Cassini-Huygens
Cassini-Huygens

Cassini?Huygens is a joint NASA/European Space Agency robotic spacecraft mission currently studying the planet Saturn and Saturn's natural satellites....
 spacecraft and its RTG
Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

A radioisotope thermoelectric generator is an electrical generator which obtains its power from radioactive decay. In such a device, the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioactivity material is converted into electricity by the Seebeck effect using an array of thermocouples....
 power source performing an earth fly-by to boost its speed
Gravitational slingshot

In orbital mechanics and aerospace engineering, a gravitational slingshot, gravity assist or swing-by is the use of the relative movement and gravity of a planet or other celestial body to alter the path and speed of a spacecraft, typically in order to save fuel, time, and expense....
 toward the outer Solar System.

Relevant quotes


"The days of this society are numbered. Its reasons and its merits have been weighed in the balance and found wanting; its inhabitants are divided into two parties, one of which wants to build its own spaceships and leave this world behind."

"Prison
Prison

A prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility is a place in which individuals are physically confined or internment and usually deprived of a range of personal Freedom ....
ers of the Earth
Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World and Wiktionary:Terra.Note that by International Astronomical Union convention, the term "Terra" is used for naming extensive land masses, rather...
: come out!"

"Space travel by any means necessary"

"Reclaim the stars
STARS

STARS can mean:*Fulton surface-to-air recovery system*Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society*STARS members in Resident Evil, a fictional task force that appears in Capcom's Resident Evil video game franchise....
!", East London AAA

"Above the paving stones, the stars"

"Space is the place", Sun Ra
Sun Ra

Sun Ra was a jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy", musical compositions and performances....


"The next step to growing up is going up!"

"The Planetarium Must Be Built!" AAA Kernow

"Earth is the only spaceship we've got!" WiccAAA

"Gravity is a social law!" AAA 333 Bologna

Timeline


  • 23 April 1995: Launch of the Association of Autonomous Astronauts in the grounds of Windsor Castle
    Windsor Castle

    Windsor Castle, in Windsor, Berkshire in the England county of Berkshire, is the largest inhabited castle in the world and, dating back to the time of William I of England, is the oldest in continuous occupation....
    , UK.
  • 23 April 1996: Publication of 1st Annual Report: "Here Comes Everybody!"
  • 23 April 1997: Publication of 2nd Annual Report: "Dreamtime Is Upon Us!"
  • 21st - 22 June 1997: 1st Intergalactic Conference – Public Netbase
    Public Netbase

    Public Netbase was a cultural media initiative, open access internet platform, and advocate for the development of electronic art. Long a support of avant-garde, sometimes controversial, art and digital culture, the project increasingly came into conflict with the Austrian political establishment during the 1990s....
    , Vienna
    Vienna

    Vienna is the Capital of Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million...
    , Austria
    Austria

    Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west....
  • 23 April 1998: Publication of 3rd Annual Report: "Moving in Several Directions At Once!"
  • 18th -19 April 1998: Intergalactic Conference – Link Centre, Bologna
    Bologna

    Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, in the Po Valley , between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, exactly between the Reno River and the S?vena River....
    , Italy
    Italy

    Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
  • 23 April 1999: Publication of 4th Annual Report: "Space Travel By Any Means Necessary!"
  • 18th – June 27, 1999: Space 1999: Ten Days Which Shook The Universe – various venues, London
    London

    London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
    , UK. http://www.deepdisc.com/space1999/
  • 23 April 2000: Publication of 5th Annual Report: "See You In Space!"
  • 23 April 2007 : AAA II Wake-Up Communique: "The Dream Is Just Beginning"


AAA groups and links

  • AAA mailing list: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/aaacommunityspaceprogram/
  • AAA 10 Year Anniversary Video Site : http://semaphore.blogs.com/aaa/
  • AAA 333 Bologna
  • AAA Anzio
  • AAA Vienna : http://aaa.t0.or.at
  • Raido AAA : http://www.uncarved.org/aaa.html
  • Nomad AAA
  • AAA Glasgow Cabal
  • AAA Kernow : http://www.myspace.com/bodminmoorexplorer
  • Disconaut AAA http://www.uncarved.org/disconaut/
  • Dionysian AAA : http://www.angelfire.com/id/ASP/DAAA.html
  • Inner City AAA
  • East London AAA
  • Jungle AAA : http://socialfiction.org/jungleaaa
  • Oceania AAA : http://www.deepdisc.com/aaa
  • AAA Aotearoa
  • AAA Insurgent Cosmos
  • AAA Parasol
  • AAA Toronto : http://mirmnp.blogspot.com
  • AAA Noordung : http://www.nskstate.com/noordung/index.php
  • AAA Argentina
  • AAA Paris Nord
  • AAA Paris Sud
  • AAA Montpellier
  • AAA Amsterdam/Area 23
  • Forum AAA Rosko (Fr) : http://www.rezoweb.com/forum/technologie/aaaroskoforum.shtml
  • "Quitter la gravité", the AAA book in French (Editions de L'Éclat, 2001) : http://www.lyber-eclat.net/lyber/aaa/quitter_la_gravite.html
  • AAA Twin Cities (Minnesota, USA)


Music

"Rave In Space" CD (2000)

Influences on other subcultures

  • Datacide magazine : http://datacide.c8.com
  • London Psychogeographical Association
    London Psychogeographical Association

    The London Psychogeographical Association is a largely fictitious organisation devoted to psychogeography. The LPA is perhaps best understood in the context of psychogeographical Praxis ....
     : http://www.unpopular.demon.co.uk/lpa/organisations/lpa.html
  • Gigabrother : http://www.gigabrother.com
  • Chris.P. : http://mielle.club.fr/moi.htm
  • The Situationist International : http://www.bopsecrets.org/SI/12.space.htm


See also

  • El Club de los Astronautas
    El Club de los Astronautas

    El Club de los Astronautas was founded 2004 as an art group based in Barcelona/Spain. The group also is known as the ?first space agency founded by artists and musicians?....
  • Space art
    Space art

    Space art is a general term for art emerging from knowledge and ideas associated with outer space, both as a source of inspiration and as a means for visualizing and promoting space travel....


Further reading

  • Mind Invaders: A Reader in Psychic Warfare, Cultural Sabotage and Semiotic Terrorism, Stewart Home, Serpent's Tail
    Serpent's Tail

    Serpent's Tail is a United Kingdom independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Pete Ayrton. It is notable for its translated works, particularly European crime fiction, and is the British publisher of Elfriede Jelinek and Lionel Shriver....
     (London), 1997
An overview of Neoist activities in the 1990s, including highlights of the AAA's first two years.

  • "Anche Tu Astronauta: guida all'esplorazione independente dello spazio", Riccardo Balli, Castelvecchi editore, Roma, 1998
An insight in Italian language into AAA's philosophy, literature, history and future.

External links