Good day Asgardia!

An email has begun to be sent out to the Asgardia community today outlining our current milestones and informing about parliamentary elections. If you have not received this email by November 28, 2017 please check your spam and trash folders. (If still not then, please contact support@asgardia.space for troubleshooting)

We will be posting a copy of the email in this blog post on Tuesday, November 28, 2017 for the community to review.

Kind regards,
Rebekah Berg
Head of Community Affairs
Asgardia

By Ross Cheeseright | November 11, 2017

If there was an option to proudly display your nation’s insignia as a patch on your jacket, would you? This is the question that Civic Asgardia’s Rebekah Berg posed to Citizens of Asgardia on the group’s official Facebook page, Asgardia General Official.

Within less than an hour, over 100 people had responded positively to the idea immediately saying that they would be more than happy to invest in one of the patches that first debuted on HON Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli’s coat when he arrived at Wallops with the CEO of Asgardia NGO, Lena De Winne.

Asgardian citizens have proven time and time again that they have an unending passion for the project and it will be incredibly interesting to see what happens in the future when the Citizens of Asgardia start to find more ways to express their affiliation and pride in the nation.

A time will come when we have Asgardian produced goods, artworks, books and maybe even fashion trends specific to our nation.

According to Rebekah’s posts, the prospect of a store selling Asgardia-branded goods is on the horizon and that we could soon be sporting our own Asgardia patches for as little as $10.

What do you think? If you’d like to join the discussion on Facebook, click here , answer the poll and leave your comments.

ASGARDIA-1 UPDATE

The next page of Asgardia history is being written in a few hours. Our nanosatellite, Asgardia-1, was launched on 12 November 2017. Now it is approaching the International Space Station for a short visit. Here is a schedule of events, including a re-broadcast of the launch, available on NASA-TV.

NASA TV will be carrying two events live on Tuesday, Nov. 14. The grapple and berthing of the OATK Cygnus spacecraft resupplying the International Space Station will be shown on the Public-Education Channel, beginning at 3:15 a.m. EST.

--- https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public

TIMES ARE US-EST (UTC-5).

* 2 a.m., Tuesday, November 14 - Replay of the Orbital ATK Cygnus/CRS-8 Post-Launch News Conference (all channels)

* 3 a.m., Tuesday, November 14 - Coverage of the Rendezvous and Capture of the Orbital ATK Cygnus CRS-8 Cargo Craft at the ISS (Grapple scheduled at 4:50 a.m. ET) (starts at 3:15 a.m.) (NTV-1 (Public))

* 6 a.m., Tuesday, November 14 - Coverage of the Installation of the Orbital ATK/Cygnus CRS-8 Cargo Craft to the ISS (Starts at 6:15 a.m.) (NTV-1 (Public))

Watch the events and join other Asgardia citiens in live discussions...

Asgardia General Official (Facebook) https://www.fb.com/groups/204018803354568/

Asgardia Forums - https://asgardia.space/en/forum/

Launch Day Presentation Live Stream: The Rundown

By Ross Cheeseright | November 11, 2017

“It’s like Christmas has come early” was the tag-line from Lena as she spoke of the successful launch of our Satellite into space. She expressed her gratefulness to all the Asgardian citizens for their hard work and remarked on what a momentous day this was. Hearts were flying on the Facebook stream as Lena took the time to outline details of the launch.

Once she was finished covering the details of the launch, she also took the time to further discuss some important questions from the community.

You can view the full stream on Facebook or on YouTube .

The volunteer teams have transcribed the live stream in it's entirety if you'd like more information here .

Space Exploration

1. Antares & Cygnus blasted off flawlessly
2. Our satellite is on board as a payload
3. Flight will last 2 days due to orbital mechanics.
4. Doesn’t fly straight up, flies around the earth and catches up with the ISS ‘chasing it’ and the docks.
5. Therefore, the launch window is so short to make sure that you end up where you want to be depending on the flight and the chase.
6. Yesterday, it didn’t launch on schedule
   1. Everything needs to be right fuel, payload, safety checks
   2. The weather must be good
   3. Air and space needs to be clear in case of something going wrong.
   4. As the rocket flies, parts drop off when they fulfil their function, so it needs to be clear.
   5. Airspace needs to be clear and airplanes need to stay away.
   6. 2 minutes before launch, systems were ready, and weather was good, and they discovered an air-plane in the launch-zone.
   7. The Launch window is so short and due to the plane entered the cleared zone, we ended up losing our launch windows (which was just 5 minutes)
7. Wallop is a large viewing site and lots of public was there to watch.
8. It was arranged that our Head of Nation would be allowed on the rooftop of the building in a security clearance location escorted by armed agents, this allowed for a nice private viewing location.
9. On the 12 ^th the weather wasn’t quite as good, but it went off smoothly.
10. 12 ^th of October 2016 announced the birth of the nation – been exactly 13 months since the pledge was made.
11. Lots of sceptics and nonbelievers who didn’t believe we could do it can now see that we’re serious
12. Proud to say that we did what we said we would do.
13. We might not be moving very fast, but we’re thinking carefully about what we’re doing, we’re only making promises that we can keep and we’re delivering on our promise.
14. There is still a lot of sceptics, there is a lot of grey area and uncertainty, but we’re committed to taking it forward. One humanity, one unity.
15. Asgardia is philosophical at this stage in its life.
16. There is no law that says that any country must be attached to the surface of the earth.
17. No law that says the country needs to be big enough to host its population.
18. No law that says you’re obliged to reside in the country of which you are a citizen.
19. You can still send personal data to the satellite
20. It will be possible to upload every couple of weeks
21. There will be another satellite being sent up. Asgardia guarantees a permanent presence in space.
22. Another satellite will be sent up in time to ‘overlap’ with Asgardia-1 to make sure of our permanent presence in space.
23. All Asgardians are entitled to their place in our satellite (virtually)

Business

1. Businesses will have to pay taxes in Asgardia.
2. Currently, taxes are voluntary. No citizens are asked to pay taxes.
3. Parliament will be formed and will establish laws further details will change accordingly to parliamentary work and legislation. So, it’s possible that people could be asked to pay tax in the future.

Citizen Action

1. Spread the word.
2. https://asgardia.space/en/blog/17788-what-can-you-do-for-asgardia/
3. People still find the concept of our nation ‘crazy’

General Information

1. Everyone is welcome in Asgardia – Asgardia is a philosophical visionary concept that has taken the form of the first ‘space nation’ everyone that finds inspiration and motivation being an Asgardian citizen is welcome. It takes different people to make the world and it’s one humanity and one unity and we’re united through the belief in unity. Everyone that shares in our philosophy is welcome.
2. The form of Asgardia is changing
3. They’re sharing with us when things need to be adapted.

Elections

1. IT/Mathematician technical team will be working to ensure the safety of the elections. There is a lot of work being done on the automated and manual level to verify IP addresses and usernames.
2. There are fake accounts that are being created.
3. Algorithms are being created to test for un-natural voting.
4. What will happen if a district is empty – Unsure, it’s hypothetical.
5. Leadership Elections End Date is yet to be determined, looking at changing votes into parliamentary elections.
6. Everyone needs to select the region that they want, irrespective of their residence area. This can be done through the profile page.

UN Application

1. We have not yet exchanged any paperwork with the UN
2. We have lawyers working on the UN and papers are being prepared.
3. We have started the process of bi-lateral mutual recognition.
4. We have a population.
5. We have a constitution.
6. We have a territory.

Parliament

1. Cannot discuss pay for Parliamentary Staff.
2. There will be further discussion of pay.
3. Parliament will be established in 6 months.
4. Parliamentary terms are yet to be determined.

Hello Asgardia!

The volunteer teams have created some activity pages for Asgardians and their families to enjoy together on this special launch weekend! There are two word searches, one easy and one intermediate, and a mind boggling maze! Don't worry, we've included the answer keys if you get a little lost!

You can find this set of activity pages here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R-yc8mXqd0kEf3LdRew0neVd6C9CTQvZ/view?usp=sharing

We hope you enjoy them!

Hello Asgardia!

Are you ready to watch the first space nation blast off? Create your own Asgardia-1 mission patch and share it on social media with the #AsgardiaLaunch tag! We've even created a template for you! Don't forget to share it with the hashtag #AsgardiaLaunch!

You can find the template here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O4EC0FoRf66u7-WZSD81RVzv-haLqXNm/view?usp=sharing

Hello Asgardia!

The volunteer teams have once again created an online scavenger hunt for the community to participate in for this weekends launch!

You can find it here:

http://ow.ly/W2pz30gv28m

Many thanks to Ana Godinho and Stephen Rosa of the volunteer team helping with this project!

Happy hunting Asgardia!

Good day Asgardia!

Asgardia-1 is scheduled to launch tomorrow so we thought it'd be nice that you have your own version of it to build and enjoy! The volunteer teams have put together an Asgardia-1 cutout activity sheet for our citizens of all ages to complete!

You can download the PDF file of the Activity Page here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X2LzeARqai5syx4DkB7YraugMLRs4LpU/view?usp=sharing

Don't forget to share your completed ones on social media with the hashtag #Asgardia1Launch2017 so we can see them!

Stay tuned through out the next couple of days for more activity pages!

Volunteer with Civic.Asgardia, the official community support organization which provides Asgardia: the Space Nation with social media moderation, projects and events logistics, and administrative operations.

Some exciting volunteer positions in this recruiting round are...
* Department assistants needed for Volunteers and Community Centers
* Community Managers and Social Media staff needed for 17 national community centers.
* Software and application developers needed for our Business Directory, Mobile App, and Online Learning Center.
* Reporters and Editors needed in Communications.
... plus other positions

Learn more about vacancies for volunteer positions in this PDF notice: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BydyXO59FB2GZTFMemdtYmdUd2c

Application instructions provided in that document.

Hello Asgardia!

It's back and better than before! The Civic Asgardia team has revived the Newsline and contains a round up of recent Asgardia news and community popular topics to help Asgardians keep up with all things Asgardia!

We've forwarded it to the Community Center volunteer teams and hope that they will work on translations for everyone. We'll post them here as they come in. If you would like to help translating, please send an email to civic@asgardia.space with the subject "Asgardia Newsline Report Translations".

English Version

Let the team know what you think of it by commenting below!

Cheers!

Rebekah Berg
Head of Community Affairs
NGO Asgardia

October 21, 2017 Asgardia Answers Live Stream Rundown

By Ross Cheeseright | October 21, 2017

As has become tradition, Lena De Winne hosted another live stream on Facebook that addresses questions brought up by the community. This month’s livestream was utterly packed with discussion and useful information as we continue our Journey to becoming an independent nation. This is our rundown of the highlights.

You can watch the full video here on Facebook or here on YouTube . The full transcript will be available in a few days and linked on this post

Introduction:

1. Acknowledgement of Founding Day of Asgardia – Many people discussed that it was a great day and some people got together to celebrate
2. There was an event in Moscow – It was Translated into English. Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli addressed the achievements and outlined the future. The conference had a lot of attention in Russia, no special attentions have been made there before but they decided to go to Russia for the Founding Day celebration and they had a lot of good coverage. Read our summary here .

Government

There were a lot of very important points that were brought up as a result of citizens questions regarding the process of forming a Parliament.

1. Constitution has been accepted and Elections were announced on the 12 ^th The elections will give people around 6 months to elect their parliament. Voting has begun already so get voting!
2. Leaderships elections are happening right now and are a precursor to the Elections.
3. It will be possible to convert your current votes (for Debutant, Strategist or Trendsetter) into Parliamentary Election Votes. It will be explained in detail how to do this in the coming days via Asgardia.space.
4. The government will only be appointed after the parliament is formed.
5. There are only 6 months to vote.
6. Application process will be on the website.
7. Parliamentary electorates will not be expected to relocate. Work will be done remotely.
8. These will be paid positions.
9. Elected parliament and ministers are different bodies. Parliament will be elected, ministers will be appointed.
10. Age limit is proposing to be dropped down below 40.
11. Ministers, deputy ministers etc. will be appointed from a pool of people that are truly qualified for the job. They’re serious jobs, paid positions and require you to submit a CV and are intended for people that would be eligible to apply for those sorts of jobs in any other established country.

Languages

The function of ‘Language Groups’ plays quite an interesting role in Asgardia and directly represent how people are being organised.

1. The distribution of the languages (by people who voted) shows a list of 12 unique ‘first languages’ (e.g English, Spanish, Russian)
2. Elections will be broken down by ‘language group’.
3. You can run for elections in the language group you select. You can also vote for people in your language group.
4. You define your language in your profile – you can change it there, too. So please check it’s set right.
5. Most Scandinavians have selected ‘English’ as their electoral-region language.
6. It’s likely that over time, a single language will emerge. Asgardia is open to the prospect of a single language.

Post Office

Asgardia announced in the Moscow conference that we would be setting up a post office. Here are the initial details on that project.

1. Working now to produce stamps by the end of the year.
2. The reality is that until the currency is in circulation, the stamps can’t be used to pay something.
3. To begin with, in ‘stamp world’ it’s a collectors edition.
4. Stamps will help build up legacy and legitimacy.
5. Eventually, we are working towards being recognised as someone who can pay postal services.
6. This will take time, same as our admission to the UN. We’re signifying that we’re setting up a postal office and a postal service which is normal for any established nation.

Business

Asgardia is open to investment, but closed to business until Parliament forms and handles the business of legislating business.

1. Constitution lays out the framework for business.
2. Parliament needs to be in place before we can do business.
3. It is Necessary to have regulations and laws in place to govern business.
4. Asgardia has a ‘business entity’ and is open to proposals for new business. They’re positioned to invest in startups and are working in conjunction with Seraphim a space-investment specialist.
5. eMail Projects@Asgardia.space if you have an idea for a business. It must be a serious idea for business and be accompanied by a business plan.

Currency

The latest news on SOLAR (SOL)

1. Still working on it. Looking at the Second quarter of the next year.
2. No more details at this point.

Space Exploration

Reaffirmation that our immediate goals are getting established here on earth. The idea of space flight or Arks is still way off in the future.

1. No spaceship will be launched within the next 10 years.
   1. Space Arks will be habitable platforms that will serve as a refuge if there are disasters and they will serve as tourist locations when there aren’t.
   2. Arks will take more than 10 years to produce.
2. Asgardia is a philosophical, technical and legal entity.
3. We are following an established path of which human settlement of other planets is just one goal.
4. Asgardia’s satellite will symbolise our ‘territory’ and our ‘permanent settlement’.
5. The size of the territory or the occupation of it isn’t a specific requirement of joining the UN.
6. Satellite 2 will test data transfer, blockchain operation and have more scientific equipment.
7. When Asked about collaboration with Elon Musk: Elon musk is a great thinker and a great businessman. We’re setting up a new state. Asgardia will use whatever service we require from the free markets. Elon musk may or may not be one of the services we use for space launches. At the moment, there is nothing to talk about with Elon.

General News

Some general information given out during the live stream.

1. A lot of Information is available on the website, forums, Facebook, national pages, blogs and there isn’t any desire to send out any specific newsletter at this point.
2. 27 ^th of October – there will be an invent in Paris 18:00 Paris time. Dr. A is partnering with Director of UNESCO, he will be presenting a medal for UNESCO Science in Space Award.
3. We want to step away from using flags to symbolise language, we need some symbols that makes sense to help people recognise a language. E.G – Russian doll is a good example of Russia.
   1. No religious symbols.
   2. No Copyrighted Material.
   3. Try to captivate the language, not the nation.
   4. Civic Asgardia will be officially announcing further details on this in the coming days.
4. Asgardians encouraged to come together and create groups for their ventures (especially in the area of start up businesses)
5. Speak with civic@asgardia.space to find out the requirements to register a citizen group officially, including getting official groups set up or creating forums that might be required.
6. You don’t need authority to set up an unofficial group, but it cannot be advertised on official groups. You must speak with members of your group privately and establish a private group.
7. Private groups can be made transparent to Asgardia by giving access to Rebekah / Lena.

About the Author:
Ross Cheeseright is a devoted Asgardian Citizen, a Strategist Candidate and a member of the Civic Asgardia Volunteer team. If you’d like to see more of his work, please check out his blog .

(ANN Asgardia Network News, member article) On the 16th of October, at a conference that was live-streamed around the globe the European Southern Observatory shared details of what was being called an “unprecedented discovery.” The

discovery was the result of a large collaboration of over 70 observatories, dozens of papers and over 45,000 astronomers.

Learn more... (PDF) .

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BydyXO59FB2Gc3pmT0U3Ukg1c00

The next Asgardia Answers live stream on the Official Asgardia Facebook page will be held on October 21, 2017 at 14:00 UTC.

(See the graphic to see the closest timezone for you!)

Join Lena De Winne, CEO of the Asgardia NGO, to ask questions and talk about Asgardia and the issues about building a nation. Ask questions and get live answers! Talk about what you did on Founding Day!

We also want to know what you'd like to talk about! Suggest a topic or ask a question below and we'll see if we can't discuss it live!