«The Earth is a cradle of humankind, but we can not remain in the cradle forever» К. E. Tsiolkovsky

Space travel seemed like a science fiction concept in the beginning of the last century, but scientific and technological progress had allowed humankind to send a man into space by 1961.

Nowadays, humankind has set itself ambitious goals for the development of the planets, the solar system and access to the deep space. The fast pace of technological and scientific development allows us to speculate that Mars exploration will be possible in a matter of one or two decades.

The United States, Europe and Russia, India, China,the United Arab Emirates, all have planned Martian missions that are scheduled to launch between 2020-2030. In all, there have been more than 40 missions to Mars. Some of them failed, while others completed their goals and closed. Up to date, all successful missions to Mars have been completed by four entities: NASA, Roskosmos, the European Space Agency and the Indian Space Research Organization.

In about five years, UAE and China hope to join the ranks of nations who have successfully explored Mars, while NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are planning ambitious missions to expand their Mars exploration capabilities.

NASA claims that if they do not interfere with any global cataclysms and killer asteroids fall, the agency will send a human to the Martian surface in the next two decades. NASA has already submitted the concept for the future Martian outpost, whose construction is scheduled to begin around the end of the 2030s.

Researched area radius is planned to be around 100 km. There will be residential modules, research centers, parking for Martian rovers and mining equipment for a team of four people. Several small nuclear reactors will supply the complex with energy. Alternatively, electricity will be generated by sun panels, however they will not be effective during Martians sand storms.

In spite of the importance of Mars exploration programs for all humankind, space agencies are facing financial and technical difficulties and often have to postpone or even cancel some programs. However, before sending an expedition to Mars, a large amount of preparatory legal and scientific work on Earth and near-Earth orbit should be done. Asgardia can contribute the creation of a new juridical reality in space and establishing a new space law that will equally protect the interest of every human being on Earth.

Space law creators will consider all past mistakes made by humankind and prepare people for a new reality while still on Earth. Space exploration must be transparent and its results must belong to all earthlings equally.

Please share your thoughts on the exploration of solar system planets. Do you think that our generation will be able to see humans stepping on Mars?

Civic.Asgardia Team reports on progress in BOINC project.

Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Networked Computing (or BOINC for short) is a scientific decentralised network that allows people from all over the world to help the advancement of science.

A user downloads a program and the research institute sends small amounts of data to your machine for analysis. Your computer does all the hard work, so you don’t have to worry about having any scientific knowledge. It works when your computer is not, so there is no significant slowing down of your computer.

Asgardia has created a team on the BOINC Servers where you can donate your unused computers processing power to the advancement of scientific research. The team was launched seven weeks ago, and the members that have signed up have done an awesome job!

We have climbed 96,192 places and are currently ranked 7,464th in the world.

Between all 318 computers on the Asgardia team, we are processing days worth of information, EVERY HOUR!

If you want to join our team and help with cutting edge science use the following links for information and participation.

BOINC Project Information

Forum

On April 12, 1961, the era of human spaceflight began when the Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth in the Vostok I spacecraft. The flight lasted 108 minutes. Twenty years later, on the morning of April 12, 1981, two astronauts sat strapped into their seats on the flight deck of Columbia, a radically new spacecraft known as the space shuttle.

In the years following Yuri Gagarin’s first spaceflight, over 500 people from almost 40 countries have flown into space. New opportunities in space were created in the year 2000 when the first crew boarded the International Space Station (ISS), a joint space project involving 15 countries.

Since the start of its operation, the ISS has gradually turned into a huge laboratory in near-Earth space.

In spite of more than 50 years of space exploration, there remains much skepticism and doubt about humankind’s need to invest into space. Why explore space? Every time something amazing is accomplished in space, someone will make the comment “Why spend so much money, time, and effort in space or on Mars or in orbit when there are many equally important issues here on Earth, such as poverty, disease, and famine?’

The space industry is not a financial black hole; no agency launches a bucket with cash into  space. The majority of the money spent on space exploration goes toward the salaries which pay thousands of skilled workers who make each mission successful. This industry creates diverse jobs all over the world, supports scientific research at various universities, and helps people to stay employed. Moreover, rough calculation shows that, on average, the expenses for space exploration cost approximately $5 to every person living on Earth (or 0.05% of world GDP per year).

Space exploration stimulates the creation of many tangible and intangible benefits for humanity.  New devices and services enter the global marketplace as a direct result of innovations within the space industry. Space exploration leads to advances in science and technology; it furthers workforce development and pushes industrial capabilities, thus leading to an overall stimulation of private companies;all of which contributes significantly to the economic progress of space‐faring nations. Space exploration is known to attract young people into careers in science and technology, adding  to the general benefit of society and the economy.

Exploring space has several intangible effects. Due to its inherent social and philosophical dimensions, delving into the unknown helps us to address the nature and meaning of human life. This leads to more enriched cultures, more inspired citizens, and greater international  understanding as a result of cooperation among space‐faring nations.

To be a human is to be an explorer - reaching into space is but an expansion of a basic human nature engrained deep within us since the first tribes left the African savanna and spread into Europe and Asia. Our ancestors had a need to explore the unknown. Now, humans have visited or settled every corner of the globe. The instinct to explore is still active, but there are very few outlets. Some people seek out extreme or exotic places to satisfy this need, others look to the skies. It may be an old cliche, but Star Trek had it right: Space is the Final Frontier, and it calls to the Explorer in all of us.

Lena De Winne,

CEO, NGO Asgardia

Professor Ram Jakhu,

Director, Institute of Air and Space Law

at McGill University

Lena De Winne, CEO, NGO Asgardia, will be attending the Fifth Manfred Lachs International Conference on Global Space Governance and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which will take place on May 5-6, 2017 in Montreal, Canada. She will give presentation about Asgardia in front of the international aerospace law experts.

To mark the occasion, Asgardia will hold a gathering on May 8, 2017. The event will be hosted by Professor Ram Jakhu, Director of Institute of Air and Space Law  at McGill University and Asgardia's international legal consultant.  Both Lena De Winne and Prof. Ram Jakhu will give presentations.

Time and location: 4:30 pm (GMT -5) at McGill University Faculty of Law, located at 3660 Peel Street, Room 312,

Montreal, Canada.

Entrance is free.

Administrative Team of Asgardia will arrange a webcast and radio broadcast of presentation for community.

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.