Monty Python, the wonderful British comedy group, has helped fill the world with laughter, and for that I am grateful. But there was also this moment of artistic magnificence when they gave the world an inroad to knowledge. In the middle of the the movie, “The Meaning of Life,” Eric Idle performs the Galaxy Song. The lyrics are copied here from montypython.net.

(spoken)
Whenever life gets you down, Mrs. Brown,
And things seem hard or tough,
And people are stupid, obnoxious or daft,
(sung)
And you feel that you've had quite eno-o-o-o-o-ough,

Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
And revolving at 900 miles an hour.
It's orbiting at 19 miles a second, so it's reckoned,
The sun that is the source of all our power.
Now the sun, and you and me, and all the stars that we can see,
Are moving at a million miles a day,
In the outer spiral arm, at 40,000 miles an hour,
Of a galaxy we call the Milky Way.

Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars;
It's a hundred thousand light-years side to side;
It bulges in the middle sixteen thousand light-years thick,
But out by us it's just three thousand light-years wide.
We're thirty thousand light-years from Galactic Central Point,
We go 'round every two hundred million years;
And our galaxy itself is one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe.

(waltz)

Our universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding,
In all of the directions it can whiz;
As fast as it can go, at the speed of light, you know,
Twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is.
So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth;
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth!

Isaac Asimov wrote that he loved big numbers. But some people say that they do not like math, let’s not let that deter us. There is a great challenge we are faced with here. Check these numbers and see if they are correct. Then convert them to standard international units using scientific notation. Then watch the youtube video of the Galaxy Song with much deeper appreciation. And we shall compare Stephen Hawking’s rendition as well.

Earth rotation: 900 miles an hour, is this number correct? Well, Earth’s radius is 3960 miles. The circumference of a circle is 2 x π x radius, and each rotation takes 24 hours.

2 x π x r = 24,881 miles in 24 hours = 1037 miles per hour.

Well that’s about right, near the equator. As you proceed North or South from the equator the radius of the path you travel on your daily rotation gets smaller, so at some latitude on Earth you are revolving at 900 miles an hour. The number gets smaller as you near the pole until when you get there you are just spinning slowly around and not traveling with each daily rotation. Now let us convert 900 miles an hour to standard international (SI) units using basic dimension analysis:

900 mi/hr x 1609 meters/mile x 1 hour/3600 seconds = 402 meters per second (m/s).

With paper and pencil (and calculator) in hand, check all their numbers and convert them to SI units. Stephen Hawking and Brian Cox did, we can do it too. I noticed Stephen corrected five of Eric’s numbers and he missed one incorrect number. Both versions of the Galaxy Song are available for your enjoyment on youtube. Using scientific notation and Standard international units:

(that is 10 to the power of two, meters per second)

Now check the rest:

19 miles a second__________________________________ m/s

A million miles a day________________________________ m/s

40,000 miles an hour________________________________ m/s

One hundred billion stars_____________________________ pure number

One hundred thousand light years______________________ meters

Six thousand light years______________________________ meters

Three thousand light years____________________________ meters

Thirty thousand light years____________________________ meters

Two hundred million years____________________________ seconds

Millions of billions = 10^6 x 10^9 = _____________________ pure number

Twelve million miles a minute__________________________ m/s

I sing this song to myself often using Stephen’s numbers. Except I say ten million miles a day for, “the Sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see” are orbiting around the Milky Way galaxy this fast due to the gravitational attraction from the supermassive black hole in the constellation Sagittarius and all the mass interior to our orbit. Orbital velocity can be figured in meters per second with the formula:

v=sqrt(GM/R) = _______________________ m/s

G is Newton’s constant G=6.674x10^-11 (m^3/(kg s^2))

M is the mass of one hundred billion stars

R is the distance to the center we are orbiting, 30,000 light years.

This velocity can be rounded off to 200,000 meters per second. It comes close to agreeing with Stephen’s number, 400.000 miles an hour, as a rough approximation. So go through and check all these numbers and see if they are all correct. Wikipedia is a helpful reference for this type of exercise where possible errors are of little impact. What we really want is to get a mastery of using scientific notation and dimensional analysis, so that we can be confident of the facts we are using and communicating with others. Besides, Stephen and Monty Python have created a masterpiece and everyone should go to youtube and see it.

We do not need to be as talented as Bob Ross to enjoy his videos

Likewise, we can play with which numbers we like and simply appreciate the others.

I always dreamt as a child that when I was in my 20's we as a race would have something up and running like the Starfleet academy and I could join it. Sadly we have failed to push our space exploration and its grew somewhat stagnent. I am hoping we can push ourselves to the stars and further our reach and continue our drive to explore new things and places.

I have always wondered what spirituality could look like if it was allowed to advance past 3000 year old models. Would we master space and time at a personal level? Could we celebrate individual experiences as a deviation from unity consciousness? Would growth be observed at the community scale, instead of the individual?

I have to wonder if this kind of progress in spiritual understanding might impact some of our current industries - like entertainment and health. And why Spirituality itself is seen as a kind of hobby.

Hmm.

ASGARDIA Has My  Full Support To Move To Outer Space, Because Someday Our World and ALL It's  Resource's Will Be GONE FOREVER. WE Will need a MINING GUILD to Gather the MATERIAL'S we need to LIVE in SPACE For Future Generations to live There and eventually beyond our SOLAR SYSTEM.

I don't expect to be able to live in space within my lifetime. But I sure hope I can. My participation in this is purely for the advancement of human wellbeing. My kids might be able to live in space, and for sure their kids will. This is not an easy task and most certainly not a short one either. This is a multi-generational adventure that we are just beginning. Like launching a ship to a distant planet hundreds of years away. We are just the launching crew and our descendants will be the settlers.

Relax, this could take a while.

I've had a rather neglected desire to become a Terraformer, ever since I was an early Teen watching Aliens for the first time. Every aspect, from environment purification to survival, to the prospect of making hospitable a planet, moon or asteroid. If I had the power to create a University Degree, this would be one of the fields I would create.

So, I'm interested! Tell me about the times you've seen people putting technology and skill to use in making their environment a habitable zone!

Whether I get to go to this new kingdom or not I want to support it. It has the basis of a grand idea. However beware of people and their agendas especially if what we do conflicts with other governments. We should support Space X and the Falcon programs. our support will assist them and us to accomplish our goals. Remember too even Asgard had it's Loki.

As I consider the future of Asgardia, one thing keeps coming to mind. Some of us will actually get to live in space, though it may yet be a few decades hence. That being the case, personal property will likely take on a new meaning. While we still live upon the terrestrial ball, we view property in terms of the accumulation of things. I am not one to say if this is good or bad. However, for the earliest of settlers who will actually have to opportunity to live in space, stuff will quickly equate to clutter. It seems to me that for any of us to live effectively in space, we will need to learn to divorce ourselves from the current accumulation of stuff that is so common place now. Yes, some personal items will be absolutely necessary. Clothing, sanitary products, and small personal effects are essential. However, as a technological nation, many things that seem so essential here upon the earth may not have such importance once in space. I suspect that all living facilities will come equipped with communication terminals and food preparation facilities, and discussions on how that is arranged should be made before going into space. However, this mean that private ownership of property will be quite limited, and this by necessity. It is unlikely that any of us will be able to claim "ownership" of the bed upon which we rest, the electronics that we use for work and recreation. Those things will likely be property of Asgardia as a whole, and allocated as needed. Truthfully, such a utilitarian concept seems best, as it will reduce unnecessary clutter. Really, this is just a preliminary thought about property and life in space. Certainly others have already had similar thoughts. I suppose that the question of human greed will come to play in this. Can we learn to divest ourselves of amassing physical property? Would learning to do so help with the well being of Asgardia? I honestly don't know.

in every man, woman, and child there is potential. It is a cliche line, I understand. But this does not mean it is any less true than it sounds. Besides, the more one heres it, perhaps the more important it must sound as a result? This nation is full of potential, I would hate to see it go to waste by copying the steps of every other country that has existed before this.

We must be better.

We must be more.

We must be ASGARDIA.

I understand the need for inclusivity and the benefits that it provides, but if we are to be a nation separate than others in our ideals and morals, than we need to knowledge that there are those who will not fit the standard mold or who see this country as something different than it truly is. If we are not to be sure to acknowledge those who fail to recognize the greatness of such a revolutionary concept, or those who would abuse such a system, then we are to fall to the level of other countries. If we are to simply accept all at base value, than we are nothing different than all others that have come before this. This country needs strong leadership. Fearless leadership. Moral leadership. Relentless Leadership.

You know it; as do I.

"Leadership is intangible; therefore no weapon ever designed can replace it." - General Omar Bradley.

This is a representation of this fine country in its finest form. It's leaders should be strength where there is none, and shall be individuals of tenacity and substance.