Includes bibliographical references and index.

Science fiction is filled with spacecraft. And in the real world, eager industrialists race to develop new vehicles to travel beyond Earth's atmosphere. Space travel can seem like a waste of resources or like human destiny. But what are spacecraft, and just what can they teach us about imagination, ecology, democracy, and the nature of objects? Furthermore, why do certain spacecraft stand out in popular culture? If ever there were a spacecraft that could be detached from its context, sold as toys, modeled, turned into Disney rides, parodied, and flit around in everyone's head-the Millennium Falcon would be it. Based primarily around this infamous Star Wars vehicle, Spacecraft takes readers on an intergalactic journey through science fiction and speculative philosophy, and revealing real-world political and ecological lessons along the way. Philosopher Timothy Morton shows how the Millennium Falcon is a spacecraft par excellence, offering readers not just flights of fancy, but new ground to stand on.