So I was asked what sort of thing I would like to launch.  There are four areas which spark my interest.

1.  Provision and storage of sustainable power for long term space habitats

2. Communications for business and revenue development

3.  Robotic additive manufacturing capable satellite(s). For building real estate in space    Turns out most of the technology we need is already under development which is pretty cool.

http://madeinspace.us/archinaut/

4. Solar sail technologies, as being tested by these guys.

http://www.planetary.org/explore/projects/lightsail-solar-sailing/

Now I appreciate that all of this is a bit bigger than a simple 1U cubesat which I mentioned before, but cubesats are only the test beds for the bigger space vehicles.

One of the curses (benefits?) of being an engineer is you always start to think of costs and practicalities.  So of course I have been off reading all sorts of stuff, whilst it is easy to get put off by the high apparent costs of space, I realised early on we could put a small 10kg cubesat into orbit at a cost of less than $0.5 per Asgardian based on a $50 000 build cost and $50 000 launch cost.

I think to launch a satellite, for a one off cost of $0.5 each is just incredible!

If we wanted to put a 150kg satellite up there on an electron rocket at $5 000 000 per launch and $750 000 to build.  (I just scaled the costs up from a 10kg to 150 kg satellite) that is still only $28 per Asgardian.

There are almost too many possibilities!

Hi I 'm Alex

I am a chartered chemical engineer with 19 years experience in a variety of industries, mostly Hydrocarbon processing in one form or another.  I have spent the last few years supporting the offshore industry with its various process issues.

I am quite excited about the whole concept of Asgardia.  Since I found out about it only 3 days ago I haven't been able to stop thinking about it,

Since I was a child I have always been fascinated by space, but back then it was always the provenance of superpowers, now it is within reach of private companies and enterprises.

I am hoping to get involved with some like minded science folks to see where I can assist.  My mind has been buzzing with the possibilities and potential road maps that could to develop the technologies we need to become a proper space faring race.  So if you need a chemical engineer for for a working group let me know!

An email received, a unique invitation
Inaugural presence, for Head of a Space Nation.
Motioned for June, an exciting event
Inclusive of audience to Asgardian Parliament.

However ...

Care as I would to visit Vienna Palaces of style
Reality checks, I am less financially mobile.
So whilst happy to support momentous congression,
Travelling distance, regrettably, out of the question.

So ...

I do hope that the occasion, goes with success
And home support perhaps gets to remotely witness.
To another, I hope can accept gracious formality,
Able to enjoy vantage of being present in reality.

With love.

~Amethysta

This is a momentous time for Asgardia.  Elections are being held that will influence the very foundation of our fledgling nation.

Citizens present their candidacy on this site, offering their visions of what our nation should be.  In doing so, they quote their qualifications and experience from their earthly vocations.  Industry, science, business and government credentials laid out for the first citizens of our great nation to peruse and from which they will select new leaders.

But doesn't this seem like carrying over the failings and disparity embedded in earthly nations to infect our shining new hope for the future of mankind?  Asgardia should be both geographically and ethically above such institutions.

For the first time in millennia, humanity has the opportunity to revise the very foundations of society.  It would be a waste to carry over the trappings of Earth's false meritocracies by installing the same minds, the same visions and the same values that have taken thousands of years to bring us to the fragile, tempestuous geopolitical situation that our terrestrial nations find themselves in today.

My vote will be given to the visionary who shows me their plan for a new path.  A better option.  A noble, ethical and prosperous nation.

My vote will be given to the candidate who shows me what Asgardia can really become.

If we are to forge Asgardian society into the paragon of virtue and science that is being posited in many peoples' posts, upon whose sage words would you base your society?

I'm intending this to be a thread of inspirational quotes and admirable role models.  But if all we get is (good natured) philosophical debate, then that is fine, too.

Read a very positive article on gender and being a man, here: https://www.maniphesto.com/copy-of-home

Reposted below:

It’s time to bridge the polarities and embrace the paradoxes around gender.

We believe that the world is ready for a new perspective on gender, sex and being a Man or a Woman, and we hereby declare our position.

We define ourselves as Men, not only in contrast to what we understand as a Woman, but also in contrast to the ideals of our dear fathers and grandfathers -- ideals which have now all but collapsed. The current social identity and spiritual crisis for Men can either be regarded as a tragedy, or viewed as an opportunity for freedom and creativity. We have decided to go for the latter.

Looking at our past, we see how Western civilisation has moved to more and more equity between the sexes, up to the current situation where the respective roles and positions of Men and Women in society are vigorously debated and contested. We believe it’s high time to take the discussion in a direction that explores and emphasises collaboration and mutual benefit, rather than playing a zero-sum game between the sexes. Can patriarchy and matriarchy find mutual benefit and common ground? And what do the ill-defined terms patriarchy and matriarchy signify exactly? Or rather, what do wedesire and envision them to signify?

Understanding this past, we see much which is strong and brilliant about male camaraderie and collaboration. We also acknowledge the negative aspects of the patriarchy and the way that Men have ruled over Women. Given both of these realities, we see no value in wallowing in narratives of perpetrators and victims and want to move forward to a new vision of society based on equality and empowerment.

We applaud and appreciate feminism's ambition towards radical equality and equal opportunity between the sexes. At the same time, we stand against the male-bashing (and therefore civilisation-bashing) that has followed with feminist culture. There is absolutely no reason to bash men for women to rise. Patriarchy has many brilliant qualities and has been instrumental in building the society we enjoy today. Thus, we support women in organising their equal matriarchy within the same society, as was the case in the original nomadic tribe. We believe in equal rights and responsibilities between all adults within the community and thus promote an approach which is egalitarian rather than feminist/masculinist.

Our primary strategy for starting this shift in society is working directly with Men. We believe that the lack of strong male role models in society and popular media/culture has led to a state where many men feel disempowered and without purpose. When you couple this with toxic narratives on male sexuality and aggression, many Men unwittingly find themselves taking extreme positions. These extremes include joining organizations which promote misogyny, racism and hate.

Examples include: joining extreme nationalist and neo-nazi groups; performing symbolic "self castration" by taking up the banners of radical feminism (wallowing in self-loathing and holding fellow brothers responsible for the evils of the world); or turning to a fear-based response of reviling against feminism and women, as in the case with the radical fringes of the Men’s Rights movement.

An even larger group of Men loll in their lack of purpose, wasting away their hours with meaningless pursuits of pleasure such as excessive pornography use and online gambling.

We believe that Women give birth to boys, but Men give birth to Men. In order for Men to become Men, they need to be guided and mirrored by other Men who are on the path from boyhood to Manhood. We love spending time with other Men for the sheer enjoyment of it and the opportunities it provides for us to grow together. We are convinced that Men have a natural ability to co-create through collaboration and healthy competition. Healthy competition amongst peers with a strong foundation of mutual admiration of skills and talents can bring out the best in Men.

But competition also has a dark side. When Men feel insecure or "pushed into a corner", they begin to see all Men as competitors... and it brings out the worst in them. A football game illustrates the beauty of both collaboration (within the team, and with 11 members, it's probably just the right size for a hunting team if we look at our evolutionary history) and ferocious competition between the teams, all within the framework of fair play. When we can relax into trusting our brothers, then this playful dynamic fosters growth, expansion and more self awareness. We also learn to admire the positive aspects of other Men,and appreciate their unique contribution to the community, which compliments our own.

We believe that the right balance of competition and collaboration amongst Men is sorely lacking in today’s society.Many Men withhold true intimacy and connection as something they only have with their intimate partner (while Women often have very strong networks of loving sisterhood outside of their primary relationship). Other Men, particularly in Scandinavia, have become more in touch with their feelings. But while they’re able to share their emotional needs with other Men, they have not always embraced their entire masculinity. We believe in working towards creating an integrated Man, who is able to deeply feel and have empathy for others around him, while also having a direction and purpose which drives him to create positive change in the world.

We believe that the right way to approach these challenges is tobring Men together in a spirit of trust and brotherhood to explore what it means to be Men in the 21st century. We envision that our exploration should be built on a solid foundation of the ideas and concepts of Western philosophy. It should be bridged to Eastern experiential psycho-technologies, such as physical and mental yogas and meditations. And it should all be tied together with know-how about creating modern ritual spaces. We don't believe in creating any 'clear-cut' model of how a Man should be, rather in each man forging the best version of himself with the help of the right tools and with support from his fellow brothers.

With these tools, we believe that we will be prepared to explore being a Brother to other Men. And from that position of connection and strength, we will discover how to become a Man to the Ones we love. We’ll discover how to become a great father to our children. And we’ll discover how to operate as a Man in society - one who can address its needs, projects and opportunities.

In October 2017, we held the first Nordic Men’s Gathering in Sweden. You can read more about our background and what we stand for under "The Story so far" . The next event will be the European Men's Gathering which will be held in Mundekulla Sweden on the 14th - 16th September 2018. If this document inspires you, then please sign up for the Maniphesto newsletter here .

With Brotherly Love,

The Men of Maniphesto

1. Hearing I ask | from the holy races,
From Heimdall's sons, | both high and low;
Thou wilt, Valfather, | that well I relate
Old tales I remember | of men long ago.

2. I remember yet | the giants of yore,
Who gave me bread | in the days gone by;
Nine worlds I knew, | the nine in the tree
With mighty roots | beneath the mold.

3. Of old was the age | when Ymir lived;
Sea nor cool waves | nor sand there were;
Earth had not been, | nor heaven above,
But a yawning gap, | and grass nowhere.

4. Then Bur's sons lifted | the level land,
Mithgarth the mighty | there they made;
The sun from the south | warmed the stones of earth,
And green was the ground | with growing leeks.

5. The sun, the sister | of the moon, from the south
Her right hand cast | over heaven's rim;
No knowledge she had | where her home should be,
The moon knew not | what might was his,
The stars knew not | where their stations were.

6. Then sought the gods | their assembly-seats,
The holy ones, | and council held;
Names then gave they | to noon and twilight,
Morning they named, | and the waning moon,
Night and evening, | the years to number.

7. At Ithavoll met | the mighty gods,
Shrines and temples | they timbered high;
Forges they set, and | they smithied ore,
Tongs they wrought, | and tools they fashioned.

8. In their dwellings at peace | they played at tables,
Of gold no lack | did the gods then know,--
Till thither came | up giant-maids three,
Huge of might, | out of Jotunheim.

As a first time blogger, I wanted to write something profound, but if I am honest enough with myself, I know that on a great day I could not be profound if I tried, so I will just be me.

Today, I sit in an office in South Africa, and I look back on life as I know it, and truth be told life has actually been good to me, not many can say that. Even with all the "bad stuff" I have been through and I have done, things are still good.

That brings me to my topic, "The Stat Of Our Planet," well I know and have seen first hand how many suffer, and at the hands of other humans, and how we as a species, have destroyed our planet and ourselves.

I am sad, and I know that so many before me have written, discussed, fought for, wrote poems, plays, songs, long-winded reports, and the list goes on.

But I ask this one question, in the last 100 years has any one nation, creed, culture, religion, done a thing about the state of the world?

The straightforward and bluntly honest answer is NO! We as a species have for all the amazing technological and scientific advances that we have made, done VERY LITTLE, nay NOTHING to actually save EARTH. It angers me to see how humans ABUSE nature and the amazing creatures and animals that co-habiting with us.

But guess what, this will just be another long-winded blog about the "State Of Our Planet" and yet nothing will be done. Greed and Religion and the Theft of "life" from all by all, I include myself in that statement, is astounding and unapologetically done.

As a species, we are ALL responsible for the mess and destruction that has been caused!

The WORST part about it is that NO ONE will take responsibility, it's ALWAYS someone else's fault or some other nations fault or some other religion, creed, and so on and so on. Why can the violence towards other humans by humans not just stop? Why can the rape of our planet not stop?

We are told by all these professionals that "IF WE DO SOMETHING NOW WE CAN STILL.....," NO we cannot, the truth that NO ONE will face the truth, the Earth is lost.

We, the disgusting human species has gone too far, we may or may not be able to pull things out of the gutter before the point of no return, but I cannot see it happening.

I am going to end this rant with this, I would love to see the utopia that the futuristic sci-fi shows give us, and in some small way, I live in hope it happens.

To all HUMANS, I call you to arms to save US.

Gav

Asgardia should be a place where we create a new democracy  that works for all citizens, therefore we should be looking at how this  can be achieved. There is no point in creating a Space Kingdom if we are  going to bring with us 20th Century solutions to 21st Century problems.  For example excessive bureaucracy and political bias.

On  this basis Asgardia should have an independently run Department of  Education that makes decisions based on the experiences of educational  professionals, students, other stake-holders including parents and  scientifically proven data rather than political whim.

The  department would be overseen by parliament who scrutinize funding, but  ultimately policy decisions should come from the Department its-self.

I  also propose as a standard, all forms of Asgardias educational policy  & delivery to be free and available to all citizens, rather than  being exposed to market forces/economics.

To  create the best education system possible we should look at the best  systems we have on earth (Finland, Singapore for example) and adapt them  to align with Asgardias mission statement.

As such I suggest the following structure;-

Department  of Education - Independent from, but funded by central government. With  anti-corruption safeguards in place from the start. For example, an  over-arching anti-corruption council that scrutinizes all government  departments.

This would include the departments;

-  Early Years (Pre-school based on language skill and  understanding/interacting with the world around them - in fun and  interesting ways!)

- Childhood (Focus on developing the  skills necessary to become humane citizens of Asgardia - emotional  intelligence, citizenship, outdoor learning, introductions to Maths and  Science as well as other core curriculum ideologies, project based and  rooted in enjoyment)

- Adolescence (Research based, more  specific giving learners the choice to specialize in other areas of  interest, introduction to testing models, critical thinking and  scientific in nature)

- Adult & Lifelong (More formal  but still fun and interactive, specific to specialist, including  apprenticeships, scholarships and other work-based learning & CPD)

Teachers  should be specialists in the delivery of the curriculum. The latest  advances in technology, learning environment design and Pegagological  understanding should applied through CPD and Critical Analysis.

Given  Asgardias very specific nature, we should also vote to include an  'Asgardia Curriculum', one which incorporates the best humanity has to  offer with the goals of the Asgardian Kingdom in Space. This needs to be  dynamic and under constant review to keep it relevant to learners needs  and our mission statement.

This  curriculum would be put together by the different strands that make up  the department of Education and would match the needs of each  learning-phase.

Please send any suggestions and I will attempt to put something basic together as a place to start.

Hello!

I would like to ask, have you thought about how to make multidimensional technologies?

I use a cellphone like most people, and they too also despite being on them for hours a day, wouldn't have a clue how to engineer devices such as it.

I want to be able to openly discuss about frequencies(to tap into) of higher dimensions, who's with me on building for natural, safe, and higher resonating(to the higher dimensions) sensory equipment or communications (that's not 'government patented' like the suppressed Tesla technologies (I honestly do not know depth into his work but I read his 'story' about what could be in it.

I was asking because I'm curious about the advances of our basic technological knowledge into distance communications into space, such as data collectors for example like a visual giver in outer space for surroundings or other planets. But from scratch. Multidimensional technology. Maybe the local Centaurians'd give us a hand, or kind Sirians if we found how to talk to them, legally, on current Earth. It's obvious I believe in ETs.

Please contact me how you can, if you're interested, find me! If I haven't deceased by then.

Thank you to all who have voted for me. It’s so inspiring to find others who share a vision. I look forward to taking this vision further and helping Asgardia grow.

I’d like to update you about this direction. I’ve nominated myself to be a part-time Deputy Minister for Citizenship.

As someone who currently has citizenship in more than one earthly country, and has to understand visas and citizenship rights and responsibilities as part of various professional roles over the years, I feel this would be a good fit for my knowledge and interest.

There has been much discussion about what the physical proof of citizenship will look like, e.g. passports and ID cards. I would like to talk more about what citizenship means to us.

Beyond what is currently in our Constitution, what rights do we expect to have as citizens? What responsibilities should be upon us in order to maintain a positive and active citizenry? How will citizenship be obtained in the future? Under what circumstances will it be revoked? How will Asgardian citizenship differ from that of earthly states?

These particulars, as with all other aspects of Asgardia, will develop over time. Regardless of the outcome of this election, I look forward to many positive and fruitful discussions about citizenship, and beautiful intricacies of our new nation.

lang : en | fr

The Final Speech from The Great Dictator

I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost….

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men - cries out for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.

To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. …..

Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!

In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: “the Kingdom of God is within man” - not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power - the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.

Then - in the name of democracy - let us use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfil that promise. They never will!

Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people! Now let us fight to fulfil that promise! Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers! in the name of democracy, let us all unite!

Powerful words for the future of humanity.

In a world of disinformation and propaganda. The only way forward is the truth. A government built on honest intentions sounds like a dream, and we now have an opportunity to achieve this. We are at a turning point in which we can create a future for our children. A future of love and peace rather than war and hate.

We, asgardians, hold this key. We can learn from the past mistakes of humanity and achieve our goal.