In an out of this world study, space archaeologists are reconstructing life on the International Space Station (ISS) over the past two decades, to better understand space culture and get an inside look at how astronauts interact with their tools and colleagues when above Earth.

The ability to understand the 'microsociety' of crews onboard the ISS will offer a window into how life in space functions, as humans consider interplanetary exploration. So how is this gravity defying research made possible?

Internationally recognized space archaeologist, Associate Professor Alice Gorman at Flinders University, says ISS researchers won't be able to travel to the space station themselves, instead opting to use millions of photographs taken onboard over nearly two decades, to document developments and changes within the station's lifestyle and cultural makeup.

"Fortunately for us, the first occupation of the ISS coincided with the emergence of digital photography," says Associate Professor Gorman.

"The images include metadata recording the time and date, which become an excavation, linking the contents of images to moments in time. Given that the crew takes approximately 400 photographs per day, images depicting the station interior now number in the millions.