Media Representations of Space Programs: Discourse of Moon and Mars

Space exploration and colonization of other planets is a hot topic that can achieve the same level of popularity and coverage that was during the Cold War and the space race. This research work was carried out with the aim of revealing how the news media represent space programs aimed at the exploration and colonization of the Moon and Mars. Thanks to quantitative and qualitative content analysis, as well as secondary data analysis, I will be able to analyze how Russian and foreign media, using the example of one publication in Russia (RIA Novosti) and America (New York Times), cover news about space over the past two years. Separately, the work highlights the arguments and counterarguments in the discourse of the colonization of the Moon and Mars. The objectives of this study include both an analytical review of research on the subject of space exploration and colonization, as well as a review of the programs for colonization of the Moon and Mars, generalization of the results of public opinion polls regarding space exploration and the identification of rhetorical and thematic features of discussions about the colonization of other planets, including ethical legal issues. As a result of this work, I answer the main key questions of this study. It becomes obvious that at the moment it is too early to talk about the colonization of other planets, and all forces are mainly directed towards manned lunar expeditions. At the same time, one should not separate the lunar and Martian space programs, since they are closely interconnected with each other, and the fate of future Martian programs directly depends on the success of the lunar programs. There are also a number of ethical and legal issues that are poorly covered in the media. Not only trends in the coverage of space programs in news media were identified, but also key differences in the coverage of these same programs in the American and Russian media. This study can be used in future research with the development and formation of a new space era in order to identify new trends and arguments / counterarguments in the discourse of space colonization.