I am so excited to be apart of this community. To some, a space kingdom may sound silly, but when we look at the future of our existence as a species does it really seem that farfetched? Yes it may just be an idea (and a satellite) currently, but you must start somewhere.

As a whole, our species must ask some larger questions than I feel are being asked currently. One is, what does the future of humanity look like?

There are more and more people that see the advantages of moving beyond being a single planetary species, and in many ways is the best way to ensure the survival of our race. Top members of the science community agree that we are running out of time on Earth (at our current rate of population growth, fossil fuel usage, reckless destruction of our natural world, over farming, etc. we are basically a ticking time bomb) and they are looking now for other options.

We are on the cusp of technology that will take us to other planets, probably within the next 2 decades. Elon Musk has said many times what his intentions are with SpaceX. "Fundamentally, the future is vastly more exciting if we're a spacefaring civilization and a multi-planet species than if we're not," Musk said. He ambitiously said in an update of SpaceX's plan this year that they hope to send a manned ship to Mars as soon as 2024. "The timeline Musk gave was ... two cargo landers would land on Mars in 2022, with four vehicles launching in 2024. Two of those 2024 ships would be crewed, meaning, in Musk's timeline, humans could walk on Mars in just seven years." That presentation also unveiled a plan to place a million people on Mars in 40 to 100 years. ( http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/2017/20170929-spacex-updated-colonization-plans.html )

Think about that for a second. A million people. A million people on a planet with at that point a corporation that runs the show (until others stake claim). Total Recall anyone? Now I believe that Musk would set up an ethical society but who knows? What if it is someone else who isn't looking out for their citizens?

Either way, we are headed to the stars.

"The limit that confronts us now is the great void between us and the stars, but now we can transcend it," Stephen Hawking, famed theoretical physicist said during a news conference. [ Stephen Hawking: 'Transcending Our Limits' With Breakthrough Starshot (Video) ]

There are handfuls of other companies and individuals actively pursuing the goal of moving us beyond Earth. Stephen Hawking himself it working on a project called 'Starshot' with the goal of sending a probe to reach Alpha Centari. "With light beams, light sails and the lightest spacecraft ever built, we can launch a mission to Alpha Centauri within a generation," Hawking added. "Today, we commit to this next great leap into the cosmos. Because we are human, and our nature is to fly."( http://www.space.com/32546-interstellar-spaceflight-stephen-hawking-project-starshot.html )

I believe it is important, vital even, to start thinking of the future and our place in it now.

Hello fellow members of the great space kingdom of Asgardia. My name is Alaina Martin, I am from Oregon, in the United States. My hope is that I can utilize my background working with small government and nonprofits along with my education in journalism to work for the collective betterment of Asgardia. I am a small business owner and a proponent for the arts, I have my own media group called Curbside Press that works to spread the arts and promote everyone to find their art. I have worked for local chamber of commerce where I was a manager of membership and communications. With this background I hope to be a proactive member within Asgardia, and personally hope and look forward to seeing Asgardia and all of its citizens flourish.