Hi Fellow Asgardians, so excited to be a part of this community! So i am so proud and thrilled to be involved in the entire Asgardian idea, as I'm noticing (as we all likely are), that the world seems to be falling apart around us. I'm in a place where, should this idea become a reality, I just don't know where I'd fit into this society. I'm definitely a tech person, but I work in Enterprise Software Sales, so I really don't feel that that the only expertise that someone with the ability to talk to people and work out deals is to be in politics, but that's really something I'd rather avoid. I'm good at building things when i have instructions and a guidepost to follow, but by no means am I an expert. I'm also a sci-fi/fantasy writer, but have put those dreams on hold while i build a career for my family to have financial security and stability. I'm also astute at MMA and Martial Arts as that has been my primary source of exercise and fitness for over a decade. So I'm a fighter but wouldn't really want to join any kind of security Asgardia might need to have in place in the future. So as you can see I'm all over the place! If the proverbial crap hits the fan and a nation like Asgardia is the place my family and I will seek refuge, what kind of work would I be qualified for? I know this is a bit of a strange rant for my first post, but I would just want to be of service and I'm curious as to what you more experienced citizens might recommend. Thank you for indulging this long and obnoxious post haha, and I'm super excited to join you on this journey!

Im glad that some of you have decided to Post articles on this page. Ive been unable to do so for sometime now. I was just laid off from my job of 15 years and am now looking for new employment within the aerospace engineering field here in Los Angeles. But I will try to post more about science and engineering in the coming days. What do you all think about SpaceX's Falcon 9 test this past weekend?

Hello everyone, I have to appologize to you all for not contributing in a long while. Ive been working on my Certification in A.I. from IBM. Its been taking up most of my free time. I will try to post more engineering or science information soon. In the mean time please feel free to Post anything related to Science or Engineering. Even if its just questions. Thank you David

I'm trying to look into how to buy Solars but I don't see anything at Marketplace, one would think they would make it easy to purchase the nation's currency.... Though frankly it probably be a better idea to use a existing and more established concurrency like bitcoin instead of trying to create a new one.

Biometrics By: David Shahal Systems Engineer 07/13/2019 What is Biometrics? Good question. Biometrics is the term for measurements and calculations for the body. Temperature, heart rate etc. It is also used to Identify a person and for gaining access to a building, office, lab etc.. We often use it on our Phones for fingerprint logons, or Facial recognition to gain access to phones or buildings. It could be using your voice to gain access or logon. Biometrics is unique to the individual, which raises concerns about ones privacy and who has access besides you. Physical ID cards can be outfitted with Biometrics. What does this mean, it means the issuing entity can place all of your personal information on the card, height, weight, eye and hair color, Medical information, even banking information. Some people even implant an RFID chip into there bodies. This can give them access to office buildings, or health information. They can even track their own body temperature and heart rates. Look up Biohackers What can be on the ID card/chip etc.? 1. Passport 2. Driver’s license 3. Access control 4. Health records 5. Voting records 6. Banking records 7. Personal records 8. School records 9. ANYTHING GOES Is it safe? When you, logon to a website, do you trust it? Of course, you do otherwise you wouldn’t be logging on in the first place. However, with biometrics you have everything stored in one database, either on a chip on the card or in the cloud someplace. All of your information is located here. Meaning if someone gains access to it, your DNA, Financial and health information can be put at risk. Governments can use this information to grant you healthcare services or deny you services. Take an example from 2005 in which thieves who wanted to steal a Mercedes-Benz S-Class car cut the finger off of the owner in order to steal the car. You have also seen this happen in movies. Passwords vs. Biometrics: The use of passwords to gain access to your banking information is not biometrics, however if you forget your password you can request a new one within a few minutes you are back up and running conducting your banking. While biometrics you normally cannot change this. As it is set in your DNA, Fingerprints, voice, iris recognition or Retina just to name a few. You can’t change those things. Who uses Biometrics: To some extent the following Nations use some sort of Biometrics: Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, Germany, Italy, Peru and Spain. The US was considering adopting a National ID but that failed, India has a National ID program. Azerbaijan has implemented Biometrics and National ID. Concerns: National IDs and biometrics databases are often used by authoritarian regimes and used for government surveillance and social control 1. Surveillance 2. Private information 3. Government watch lists Conclusion: Is a Biometric ID a good thing? It can be with the proper protections in place. However, putting all of your personal information on one National Database is a risky venture. They are very expensive to implement, error prone and have a high risk to privacy and personal freedoms. Put in another way, the government has more control over you, what’s to stop them from shutting down your access to work, food, banking etc. just for speaking out against the government? Look at China, with social scoring in place, if you do something wrong, your social score goes down. This has a net negative effect on your ability to gain employment, travel and living your life. Can this happen here? You bet. Your Civil Liberties are at stake here. National IDs have often been used to discriminate against people based upon sexual orientation, race, religion, political views and ethnicity. So, Until the proper Legal Safeguards are in place to protect us from Government and Corporate abuse, I say no thank you. Source(s): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biometrics https://www.eff.org/issues/national-ids

As the title states, Every Human can make a difference. I know inside each of us is the ability to change and the ability to create change. Ideas are born out of necessity. So, what can you bring to the table? What would you like to change? What would you improve or create that would help humanity? Is is improving food production? Home building? Jet Aircraft? Rockets? Space Travel? We all have ideas, some of you may not have engineering degrees or are scientists or doctor's. But that does not matter, you can all join in the discussion and bring your ideas into reality. The biggest threat to our Earth right now is Climate Change, whether or not you believe in the science behind it, you can feel the change with each passing year. So how would you make a change? What would you like to invent to change things for the better? Anyway, its up to all of us to bring about positive change to our world. As an Asgardian we may never make it to Space if we dont fix the things we have here on Earth first.

The Engineering Process By David Shahal Systems Engineer 06/26/2019 I will attempt to explain some of the basics of The Engineering Process as it pertains to Systems Engineering. First, I must tell you all I have been a Systems Engineer for the past 15 years in the Aerospace Industry. Second, The Engineering Process can be and most likely is applied across all engineering disciplines. So here goes. 1. User Requirements – the gathering of the User Requirements is the single most important first step within the engineering process. This is the bread and butter of what you are working towards. For example: if your customer wants to create a new Jet Engine, they don’t just say go make us an Engine, they give you requirements, how fast, how energy efficient, how heavy it is to name a few. a. These are expressed in SHALL, WILL, MAY, MUST etc. statements, “The Engine SHALL weigh 1500 pounds”. This statement is a customer must have item. b. A User Requirements review is generally recommended before any work is started. Getting together with your Engineering team and the Customer is a must. You may even start a question and answer document to share between You and Customer. c. User Requirements can be a long process of questions and answers, changes to the requirements, deletions or additions. when the requirements are locked down that is usually when you begin the next step. 2. Documentation – this is where you, the engineer will spend a lot of your time on. The creation of Documents. Verification and Traceability document, Test Plan Document, Test Procedure Document and Test Reports. You may also create User guides, Test Set documentation, Schematic Drawings etc. About 75% of your time as an Engineer will be spent on Documentation. a. Your organization may use a system called IBM Rational DOORS (Dynamic Object-Oriented Requirements System) to create, update and maintain your documents. Or you may just use Microsoft Word, Excel etc. for your documents. 3. Implementation – In this section you begin your design phase. You generate needed drawings and any extra documents, you create your engineering test boards (actual circuit cards, parts etc.), chassis, cabling, power requirements, Prototyping of your design, mockups if needed etc. 4. Testing – Does it work as expected, or do you need to rework your design. You have different types of testing, EMI (electro-Magnetic Interference), Lightning, Fire, Radiation, Software and other hardware testing as needed. a. You will also produce your Test Results documentation at this stage. So, brush up on your technical writing skills. b. You may be certifying your design at this stage, so documentation is very important. c. Quality Assurance will always be involved. d. Expect multiple meetings each week until you are done. e. Do not be afraid of speaking up for yourself, your design and your teammates.

Happy Unity Day 2019! How are you celebrating? For me, I'm at work...an engineers job is never done. I would rather be in space though. Lets make this happen.

Communication Satellites - Does Asgardia Need Them? By David Shahal Systems Engineer May 31, 2019 SpaceX just launched its Starlink Satellites into orbit. Deploying around 60 of them. Many people have seen the trail in the nights sky around the world and have posted videos and photos of this amazing event. They plan even more launches of Starlink Satellites in the coming months and years, planning on a network or nearly 11,000 of them. Now, Asgardia wants to do the same thing. Offer low cost internet service via a Satellite Network of around 10,000 satellites. Good Idea or Bad? You decide! This network could potentially generate Millions of dollars/euros per month in income for the Space Nation. I've also read someplace that Facebook and Google both want to do the same thing, heck Facebook is hiring Aerospace Engineers as we speak. Imagine the sky filled with 30,000 or 40,000 of these satellites all fighting for your $ Dollars, the cost of Internet may only be a few dollars per month. To cover the globe both would need at least 10,000 satellites clouding the night sky and potentially causing more traffic for our Rocket Launches and putting our Astronaut’s in danger. Other companies and Nations may be planning on the same thing. Maybe China will one day soon enter the cheap internet era with a Satellite network of their own. Adding to the already crowded heavens. Time will tell. Does Asgardia need to spend Millions of Euros/dollars on this when other companies are doing it before us? Why not build several large Communication Satellites and piggy back off the Starlink Satellite Network or Facebook or Google for that matter? We could save millions of Euros and instead spend that money on a space ark or Lunar/Mars base that could potentially house many thousands of Asgardians. My two cents!