In 1957 Sputnik, the world’s first satellite, dazzled people as it zipped around the planet. By the turn of the twenty-first century, more than eight thousand satellites orbited the Earth, and satellite practices such as live transmission, direct broadcasting, remote sensing, and astronomical observation had altered how we imagined ourselves in relation to others and our planet within the cosmos. In Cultures in Orbit , Lisa Parks analyzes these satellite practices and shows how they have impacted meanings of ?the global? and ?the televisual.? Parks suggests that the convergence of broadcast, satellite, and computer technologies necessitates an expanded definition of ?television,? one that encompasses practices of military monitoring and scientific observation as well as commercial entertainment and public broadcasting. Roaming across the disciplines of media studies, geography, and science and technology studies, Parks examines uses of...