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Don't Want to Live on This Planet Anymore? Try Asgardia, the First "Space Nation"

posted by takyon on Friday October 14 2016, @11:11AM   Printer-friendly
from the heaven's-orbit dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

In what sounds like a backstory for a sci-fi B-movie, a team from the Aerospace International Research Center (AIRC) has announced plans for Asgardia, a "space nation" satellite that will operate as its own country, independent of any Earthly nation state. At a press conference in Paris this week, project leader Dr Igor Ashurbeyli outlined the philosophical, legal and scientific goals and issues of Asgardia, as well as put out a call for Earthlings to apply to be its first citizens, and help design its flag and other national symbols.

Fans of Norse mythology (or Marvel movies) will recognize the name Asgardia as stemming from the city in the skies ruled by Odin. According to Ashurbeyli, it was chosen to represent the unifying philosophy behind the project.

"It is the realization of man's eternal dream to leave his cradle on Earth and expand into the Universe," Ashurbeyli explains. "Asgardia's philosophical envelope is to 'digitalize' the Noosphere, creating a mirror of humanity in space but without Earthly division into states, religions and nations. In Asgardia we are all just Earthlings!"

Tip for Asgardia: If Matt Damon wants to use your Med Bay, let him.

takyon: Also at BBC and asgardia.space.

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday October 14 2016, @05:31PM

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Friday October 14 2016, @05:31PM (#414379) Journal

    http://www.seasteading.org/ [seasteading.org]
    http://www.seasteading.org/about/vision-strategy/ [seasteading.org]
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasteading [wikipedia.org]
    https://www.reddit.com/r/seasteading/ [reddit.com]
    https://www.wired.com/2015/05/silicon-valley-letting-go-techie-island-fantasies/ [wired.com]

    In a 2009 essay, Thiel described these island paradises as a potential “escape from politics in all its forms.” It wasn’t just desirable, he said. It seemed possible. “We may have reached the stage at which it is economically feasible, or where it will soon be feasible,” he wrote.

    More than a half-decade later, the dream has yet to be realized. And optimism is starting to waver. Earlier this year, during a talk at George Mason University, Thiel said, “I’m not exactly sure that I’m going to succeed in building a libertarian utopia any time soon.” Part of the problem: A truly self-sufficient society might exceed the range even of Thiel’s fortune. “You need to have a version where you could get started with a budget of less than $50 billion,” he said.

    For its part, The Seasteading Institute has also come to appreciate that the middle of the ocean is less inviting than early renderings suggest. It now hopes to find shelter in calmer, government-regulated waters. According to its most recent vision statement, “The high cost of open ocean engineering serves as a large barrier to entry and hinders entrepreneurship in international waters. This has led us to look for cost-reducing solutions within the territorial waters of a host nation.”

    Thiel’s reassessment marks a clear departure from tech culture’s unflinching confidence in its ability to self-govern. In recent years a number of prominent entrepreneurs have urged Silicon Valley to create a less inhibited place for its work. Larry Page called on technologists to “set aside a small part of the world” to test new ideas. Elon Musk has aimed at colonizing Mars. And venture capitalist Tim Draper made a proposal to divide Silicon Valley into its own state. But aside from the continued growth of full-service tech campuses such as Google’s and Facebook’s, very little has been accomplished in the way of true societal independence.

    I can't see an orbital nation as cheaper than a seastead for the foreseeable future. Both will require maintenance. The seastead will be corroded by water, but will be able to support more people, with cheaper access to Earth resources and cheaper travel back to land, and with reasonable gravity (a huge expense for the orbital station to simulate, as others have pointed out). If the ISS cost [wikipedia.org] is around $150 billion and it can support 6 people, how much will Asgardia cost?

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