Many Asgardians are dreaming of the day they will fly to space and live on an orbital Asgardian station. Watching stars, developing scientific research or spacewalks… these all sound very adventurous and challenging, however, the heroic halo of space explorer can become tarnished by day-to-day life on the orbital station.

Becoming an astronaut is not simple. You must have the proper education, an excellent professional background and perfect health. Each candidate must pass several tests that give the agency an overall portrait of each individual: their fitness level and physical suitability for training, critical and analytical thinking skills, their behavior in group settings, and so on. All are tested rigorously.

Immediately after recruitment, astronaut candidates undergo a one-year basic training that begins with the basic knowledge of space engineering. Electrical engineering and science disciplines are explored afterwards. Another training block deals with the major systems of the International Space Station and transportation systems such as the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Basic training concludes by focusing on specific topics such as underwater diving for spacewalk training, robotics, rendezvous and docking, the Russian language, human behavior and performance.

Advanced Training takes another year and provides astronauts from Space Station partners with knowledge and in-depth skills to operate, service and maintain the station’s modules, systems, payloads and transport vehicles. It includes specialization in some functions, such as resource and data operations, robotics, navigation, maintenance, spacewalks, medical aspects and payloads. Lessons are conducted at all partner sites to allow first-hand familiarity with flight elements and operations for all partner candidates.  The final stage is Increment-Specific Training that gives astronauts the specific knowledge and skills required for their mission. This job is very difficult, both physically and mentally. It requires a candidate to be separated from their loved ones most of the time.

Space is a harsh environment for humans, as we have not been created to live there. Systems throughout our body have developed to function under the stresses of gravity. The longest continuous amount of time a human has spent in space is 437 days, which is definitely not long enough to conquer it. The only way to create a human friendly environment in space is to have some form of gravity inside the spaceship. There are many theoretical calculations starting from rotational gravity, linear acceleration, magnetism and finishing by sci-fi gravity generators. NASA had a closed approach to this issue in the Nautilus-Х project, however, due to lack of fundings, this project did not go further than drawings and theoretical calculations. Humankind must still solve a lot of problems prior to the exploration of our solar system and beyond.

Before Asgardia reaches its main global goal of building an orbital station acceptable for continuous human habitation it must integrate itself into the global space exploration community and be recognized by wider scientific community. Asgardia has great plans ahead which will be introduced over the coming months and years. Currently, the Asgardia team is working hard to create a brand new site for community and arrange the requirements for Unified Voting Day. This day is of great importance in our efforts to create a nation, and gain further recognition as a space state. With this approach Asgardia will be a part of the great scientific breakthroughs which we can see are coming soon.

Electronic, instrumental and space music festival “108 Minutes” took place in Museum of the First Flight at Gagarin City, the homeland of the first cosmonaut of the planet Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin, on April 12 at the International Day of First Human Flight.

This year the world's first festival of electronic space music was supported by Igor Raufovich Ashurbeyli, the founder of the first space state of Asgardia.

The Space Music Festival is created and organized by our fellow Asgardian living in Russia, a man with a passion for space exploration themes in musical creativity - musician and producer Anjei Kravtsov.

The forum, which was held for the third time, was dedicated this year to the 110th anniversary of the birth of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, Chief Designer of rocket and space systems.

Before the beginning of the musical part, the guests and participants of the festival heard Igor Ashurbeyli's welcome words and got acquainted with the ideas of Asgardia. It was symbolic that exactly six months before, on October 12, 2016,  the creation of the first space state had announced by Dr. Ashurbeyli in Paris.

Why did the founder of Asgardia decide to support festival “108 Minutes”? The answer is that International Festival of electronic space music meets the concept of Asgardia. First space state considers culture and art as necessary elements of constructing harmonious state regardless it is located on Earth or in Space. Gagarin City dwellers and the guests of the city learned how to become Asgardians, how to take part in the formation of a new nation and where you can know more about it.

The festival was attended by composers and performers from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Pervouralsk and the Republic of Belarus.

Maria Stepanova, the director of the Museum of Gagarin, expressed the opinion that Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin could be considered as the first Asgardian as he was the first human who escaped from the planet and flew to Space.

1. 180000 Asgardians from 233 countries have passed the second verification and received the Certificate of Asgardia;

2. The website asgardia.space, which will become Asgardia's official government site, and forum  have been launched;

3. The domain for asgardia.com has been purchased, and will soon become Asgardia's commercial site;

4. Asgardia Flag contest, which featured 2852 participants from 124 countries and 7372 flags, has been completed;

5. Asgardia Insignia contest, which featured 414 participants from 86 countries and 6426 insignias, has been completed;

6. Asgardia Anthem contest, which featured 328  participants from 63  countries and 487 anthems, has been completed;

7. The Asgardian calendar has been introduced;

8. Asgardia Declaration of Unity has been created and published for community discussion;

9. Asgardia Constitution content has been drafted and presented for review;

10. Unified Voting Day  has been set for June 18, 2017 (Asgard 1st, 0001);

11. Three Asgardian national holidays have been announced;

12. Non-commercial, non-government organization (NGO) “Asgardia” has been registered as a prototype of the future full-fledged state. The acceptance of charitable donations has begun;

13. "Asgardia" AG has been registered,  shares can now be purchased by all Asgardians;

14. Trademarks of Asgardia, AsgardiaSpace, Asgardia Space have been officially registered in the European Union in the appropriate classes.  Trademark Asgardia has been registered in the appropriate classes in the United States.  Trademark applications for other classes  have been submitted.

15. Asgardia has teamed up with BOINC, which will allow to donate unused CPU power to the advancement of scientific research;

16. New groups have been set up on Facebook. There are now four official groups, including Voice of Asgardia Radio and Asgardia TV, and fifty regional groups with approximately 145000 followers. There are also about 10000 followers on Twitter.

17. Volunteer groups have been established in various countries;

18. Asgardia sponsored  a musical festival held in Gagarin, Russia on the International Day of the First Human Space Flight;

19. Many international meetings have been held to discuss the issues surrounding Asgardia's official recognition by the UN, as well as other matters of organizational and legal nature;

20. Asgardia team members gave numerous media interviews explaining Asgardia's primary objectives.

There are more exciting news coming soon! Be ready for the announcement of Igor Ashurbeyli's upcoming press conference,  which will be held in Hong Kong on June 13, 2017 (June 24th, 0001).

Do not forget to vote on June 18, 2017 (Asgard 1st, 0001) to receive special bonuses!

The latest issue of global space magazine ROOM - The Space Journal is published this week and is a must-read for anyone interested in space and the future.

Printed copies delivered either by mail direct to your home or electronic digital versions for download are available on subscription from the ROOM website - www.room.eu.com

In this issue of ROOM there are exclusive articles on ‘Sky-fi - the dawn of the space internet era’, ‘Surviving radiation for space colonisation’, ‘Growing plants without gravity’ and ‘Recipe for success on flights to Mars’, looking at how food will be more than just nourishment on future journeys to the red planet.

In his opinion piece ‘Could Brexit blow a hole in UK’s space ambitions?’, Dr. Mike Leggett suggests Britain’s decision to leave the EU might have unanticipated effects on the long-established cooperation of the UK and Europe in space.

Swift progress towards deployment of large satellite constellations also point to serious issues in the space environment - not just for the future but for now - and these are eloquently addressed in articles ‘Mega challenges for mega constellations’ and ‘Urgent action needed to keep satellites safe in orbit’ by Holger Krag and Mark A. Skinner.

In ‘Spaceplane rationale - a new way of thinking’, David Ashford argues that a choice made by NASA four decades ago probably led to a very different future for the global launcher industry - and can we change it?

The latest issue of ROOM also highlights the search for a new system of space governance - a globally agreed system of laws and codes of conduct for the benefit of all humanity, not just those with the power and might to muscle their way to the front.

Articles in a special Space Security section come from a definitive new study contributed to by more than 80 lawyers and space professionals from around the world.

Other articles look at ‘How to build a Moon base cheaply’, differences between ‘Automated and human-operated systems’, Bepi-Colombo’s forthcoming mission to Mercury and ‘Hunting for neutrinos in the ice of Antarctica’.

“Important choices and decisions lie ahead, not only for our national and global politicians but also for those at the heart of the international space community,” suggests Managing Editor Clive Simpson in the issue’s challenging Foreword.

“Does humanity take the well-trodden path of least resistance or do we head intelligently and wisely into a brave new world of cooperation and togetherness - and go daringly and boldly into the future?”

Want to read more? Then order your own copy of ROOM now - visit: www.room.eu.com

Let Your Voice Be Heard. Discuss Asgardia’s Constitution Today.

Asgardia is proud to announce the completion of a draft of its Constitution . We are looking to Asgardians to hold discussions and provide us with feedback . We are posting the English version for now, but more translations into other languages will follow soon.

The future of Asgardia depends on you. We are looking forward to your comments so that we can finalise the Constitution for your ratification on June 18, 2017 (Asgard 1, 0001). Remember – unity in space begins on Earth.

Constitution of the Space Nation of Asgardia

Конституция Космического Государства Асгардия

Constitución de la Nación Espacial de Asgardia

Constituzione della nazion espaziale Asgardia

Verfassung des Weltraum-Staates Asgardia

Constituição Do Estado Espacial de Asgárdia

Uzay Ulusu Asgardia'nin Anayasasi

Constitution de la nation spatiale d'Asgardia

太空国家阿斯伽迪亚 宪 法

دستور دولة أسجاردیا الفضائیة

On 13 June 2017, the Asgardia team will gather in Hong Kong to announce detailed plans for the first Space Nation's next steps.

Led by Asgardia's Head of Nation, Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli, one of the world’s most distinguished rocket scientists, the international group of leading scientists will discuss the foundation of Asgardia.

Asgardia will open up access to space for commerce, science and for people from all around the world. The event will mark a new era in the Space Age, sixty years after the first ever artificial space satellite, Sputnik 1 orbited the earth. The event will be livestreamed, with details to be announced shortly.

What:

ASGARDIA: Press Conference

Next steps of Asgardia, the First Space Nation

Where:

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Hong Kong

Livestream details to be announced

Who:

Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli, Head of Nation, Asgardia

Jeffery Manber, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, NanoRacks

Professor Ram Jakhu, Director, Institute of Air and Space Law, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

When:

Tuesday, 13 June 2017

15.30 HKT/08.30 BST/03.30 EST

The press conference is for accredited media only.

There will be an Asgardian meeting for all interested Asgardians later the same day. Details will follow shortly.