Cameron M Smith

Portland State University, Anthropology, Faculty Member

University of Arizona, Center for Human Space Exploration, Department Member

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I've been teaching human evolution and prehistory since 1999. Undergraduate study at the University of London's Institute of Archaeology and Durham University (UK) (BA Joint Hons), with two field seasons at Koobi Fora, Kenya, then Portland State University (MA) and a doctorate in Archaeology at Canada's Simon Fraser University in 2004. I teach a wide variety of 100-400-level courses in world prehistory, field and lab methods, and regional topics. Research interests include Northwest Coast archaeology, evolution in general, cognitive evolution, aboriginal watercraft, usewear analysis and the adaptation of humanity (and our domesticates) to off-Earth environments, e.g. space settlement. Since 2009 I have been active in the realm of space suit technology, in 2023 joining the U of Arizona's Center for Human Space Exploration as co-Director; our focus here is on the development of new space suit philosophies and technologies.
Supervisors: Kenneth M. Ames, Brian Hayden, Knut Fladmark, Roy Carlson, Anthony Harding, and Alan Bilsborough

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Familiarization With Space Pressurized Garment Technology and Maintenance

Future South African Space Explorer STEM Academy Gauteng, South Africa, 2025

Pressurized garments for space exploration training require design for ease-of-maintenance and re... more

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Think for Yourself: Don't Turn Your Mind Over to AI

The human mind and intelligence are entirely unique in the history of evolution, and they are fac... more The human mind and intelligence are entirely unique in the history of evolution, and they are facilitated by the evolutionary feature of language. Modern AI is being used as a proxy for our thinking capacity, generating billions of words; but while it is artificial, it is not intelligent or creative in any meaningful way. It is important to maintain and continually sharpen our intelligence capacities by exercising them, and not turning over our thinking tasks to AI.

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Project Hyperion: Systems Architecting of an Interstellar Generation Ship Paper 47, First European Interstellar Symposium, U. Luxembourg https://irg.space/first-european-interstellar-symposium

Interstellar Research Group, 2024

Project Hyperion is a conceptual study of a hypothetical interstellar generation ship, commenced ... more Project Hyperion is a conceptual study of a hypothetical interstellar generation ship, commenced in 2013. Since 2023, the Hyperion team has been working on organizing an interdisciplinary design competition on the habitat of the generation ship. Design competitions have proven to be an effective means of generating a variety of designs to explore a novel design space. The highly interdisciplinary nature of generation ship habitats, spanning architecture, engineering, and social sciences makes it a particularly challenging design problem.

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From IVA to NBL: The History of Spacesuits at Pacific Spaceflight

Lecture at University of Arizona Center for Human Space Exploration, 2024

A capsule history of pressurized garments designed, built, tested and used by the Pacific Spacefl... more

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The utilization and multifaceted aspects of 1.5psi to 3.5psi pressurized garments [experimental EVA ‘spacesuits’] in analog facilities and spacesuit research

International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2024

The Use of Pressurized Garments in Space Analog Studies

6th Space Resources Conference, AGH University, Kraków, Poland, 2023

Many space analog stations and studies incorporate the use of unpressurized garments in EVA activ... more Many space analog stations and studies incorporate the use of unpressurized garments in EVA activities. These suits are often non-gastight coveralls paired with a bubble-type helmet supplied with air from fans in a backpack. Such arrangements are intended to add to the complexity and challenge of EVA such that the simulation is more realistic, incorporating the challenges of wearing such garments that restrict movement and dexterity, demand radio communications and so on. While such efforts have been useful to date, there are good reasons to use pressurized garments now that they increasingly affordable. This paper outlines the rationale, logistics and operational issues of pressurized garment use in space analog stations and studies, providing some examples, preliminary test data and commentary on the philosophy of EVA activities.

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A Novel Mars Surface EVA Exploration Suit

A Mars surface EVA exploration suit is described, using a variety of innovations to reduce mass, ... more

Our Future in Space - Spacesuits and Anthropology with Cameron Smith

Interview by Orbital Assembly Corporation, 2022

Space suits are simply material adaptations to conditions beyond Earth. As humanity lives farther... more Space suits are simply material adaptations to conditions beyond Earth. As humanity lives farther and multigenerationally beyond Earth, we will survive by material, cultural and biological adaptation; these are no mystery, all well-known to the field of anthropology, the scientific study of our species.

ADAPTATION: the Open Secret of Human Origins, Diversity and the Future

The evolutionary phenomenon of adaptation is well-known and easily-understood. It is the author o... more

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World Ships - Feasibility and Rationale

Examination of theoretical and practical aspects of interstellar voyaging craft capable of multig... more

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On the feasibility of reaching exoplanets with crewed interstellar spaceships

La conférence Exobiologie Jeunes Chercheurs, CNES

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The Economics of Space Suits

Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration, 2019

Space Suits and Human Evolution

The Trottier Public Science Symposium, McGill University, Montreal, 2018

A public lecture on the evolutionary context of space suits, their role in the human future beyon... more

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Earliest Settlement of the Americas: A Review of the Archaeological, Genetic and Linguistic Data

A review of the archaeological, linguistic and genetic evidence for earliest settlement of the Am... more

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Human Exploration Technologies for the Second Space Age: Private Development of Space Suits for Earth Orbit and Beyond

Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration, 2018

A Second Space Age is underway, featuring both private and federal space exploration; to facilita... more A Second Space Age is underway, featuring both private and federal space exploration; to facilitate this, nearly all space-access and -exploration technologies need updates and cost-reduction efforts as they derive from archaic concepts and systems of production of the federally-regulated First Space Age (c.1959-2002). I describe the efforts of my team, Pacific Spaceflight (which is not a business) to tackle a basic space-access and space-exploration technology, the 'space suit'. We are currently on our 10th main design revision and have arrived at a low-cost, lightweight basic space suit; we hope to open-source the design so that others improve on this garment, and we'll soon be turning our attention to a Mars suit for the human exploration of that planet.

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The Door Stands Open: Human Biocultural Adaptive Strategies are Sufficient for Permanent Human Space Settlement and Interstellar Voyaging

In planning for human space settlement and even interstellar voyaging it is important to establis... more In planning for human space settlement and even interstellar voyaging it is important to establish first that our cultural and genetic adaptive systems are capable of adaptation to such new selective environments as worldships. Empirical demonstration that this is false, by anthropological studies as carried out in this research, establish that we may reasonably proceed with such plans. This research approach is analogous to that carried out in the early years of bioastronautics, when the very viability of the human body in the space environment was thoroughly reviewed before flight.

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By Sea, By Snow, By Land, and By Shore: Dispersals of the Genus Homo.

"Dr Smith’s lecture will highlight human dispersal across the globe in the past two million years... more "Dr Smith’s lecture will highlight human dispersal across the globe in the past two million years. Dr. Smith’s research has enabled him to complete his sixth book, “An Atlas of Human Prehistory” that discusses and provides maps regarding the movement of the human past and the ways that humanity has adapted and traveled across the globe, even deep in prehistoric times."

TEDx Portland, 2015: The DIY Space Suit

Dr. Smith reviews his project to build a simple, $1,000, 5kg IVA space suit as one 'puzzle piece'... more

Private Development of a Low-Cost, Lightweight Launch-Reentry Pressure Suit

Development, testing and applications of a lightweight, low-cost launch-reentry pressure garment ... more

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An Adaptive Framework for Permanent Human Space Settlement: Cultural and Biological Evolutionary Dynamics on Interstellar Voyage Timescales

Interstellar voyaging is a century or more away, but planning for it may begin well in advance of... more Interstellar voyaging is a century or more away, but planning for it may begin well in advance of the anticipated propulsion technologies. I review biological and cultural evolution on multigenerational interstellar voyages, highlighting adaptive mechanisms and dividing such voyages into analytical units of value to long-term planners.

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Cameron M Smith

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