Asgardia: Russian rocket scientist Igor Ashurbeiyli funding plans for space nation - TomoNews
- 8 years ago
SPACE — On Oct. 12, the citizens of Earth got one step closer to ditching the planet for a better way of life after a Russian businessman and scientist announced his plan to create humanity’s very first space nation, Asgardia.
That is, if you believe Igor Ashurbeyli, chairman of UNESCO's Science of Space committee and founder of the Aerospace International Research Center.
Asgardia is named after Asgard, home of the gods ancient Norse mythology. Asgardia has several philosophical aims, one being to cultivate peace in space, creating a home for humanity free of Earth’s conflicts. Another stated purpose of Asgardia is to shield the Earth from space threats, such as asteroids, sun flares and man-made debris. Asgardia will also supposedly be a safe space for scientists to conduct private and unrestricted research, free from the constraint of a land-based country’s laws.
Ashurbeyli and his team would like to offer everyone access to space, regardless of where they come from. All a person has to do is fill out an online application form on the Asgardia website. The form requires only an applicant’s name and email, and immediately they become a full-fledged “Asgardian.” Once at least 100,000 people register to become citizens of Asgardia, Ashurbeyli says it will be eligible to become a member of the United Nations.
So far, the funding of Asgardia is through private, personal financiers. Crowd-sourcing campaigns will also be set up to pursue the project, and early plans are for a satellite to be sent into orbit in October 2017.
That is, if you believe Igor Ashurbeyli, chairman of UNESCO's Science of Space committee and founder of the Aerospace International Research Center.
Asgardia is named after Asgard, home of the gods ancient Norse mythology. Asgardia has several philosophical aims, one being to cultivate peace in space, creating a home for humanity free of Earth’s conflicts. Another stated purpose of Asgardia is to shield the Earth from space threats, such as asteroids, sun flares and man-made debris. Asgardia will also supposedly be a safe space for scientists to conduct private and unrestricted research, free from the constraint of a land-based country’s laws.
Ashurbeyli and his team would like to offer everyone access to space, regardless of where they come from. All a person has to do is fill out an online application form on the Asgardia website. The form requires only an applicant’s name and email, and immediately they become a full-fledged “Asgardian.” Once at least 100,000 people register to become citizens of Asgardia, Ashurbeyli says it will be eligible to become a member of the United Nations.
So far, the funding of Asgardia is through private, personal financiers. Crowd-sourcing campaigns will also be set up to pursue the project, and early plans are for a satellite to be sent into orbit in October 2017.