Live in the sky! That’s one of the photo captions of Asgardia, the first space nation, offered by a group of scientists.
So far, more than 280,000 people have registered and Indonesians are in seventh place with numbers approaching 10,000 as of Thursday (27/07) night. And as of Monday (31/07), more than 166,000 Indonesians have registered in fourth place, behind Turkey, China and the United States.
Asgardia -the name taken from the Norse mythological city in the sky – is open to anyone and free of charge.
Lena de Winne, Asgardia management, previously worked for 15 years at the European Space Agency. said he was very happy that many signed up to become the first space nation community.
“In some countries, the response is more, and we are very happy that Indonesians have answered promotional offers about Asgardia,” De Winne told BBC Indonesia’s Endang Nurdin.
Moedji Raharto, an astronomer at the Bosscha Observatory in Lembang, West Java, said that the response from Indonesians was quite high due to the many natural events.
“In Indonesia, there are many celestial events, such as eclipses, so the proximity of humans to the sky will be the way to respond by responding whenever there is an offer about a trip to space, or there is an interesting event,” said Moedji.
Of course, by registering, people can’t immediately live in space. They still have to stay on Earth.
What and how was the space nation’s project, Asgardia? Here are five things we’ve rounded up for you.
Space independent nation
asgardia
The project was first announced in October 2016, by Russian scientist Igor Ashurbeyli, who called Asgardia the first independent nation to operate in space.
Within 40 hours of being announced, more than 100,000 people registered for citizenship on the Asgardia website. Anyone over the age of 18 and has an email address, regardless of nationality, gender, race, religion and financial condition, can apply.
Ex-convicts can also register, as long as they are free from charges at the time of registration.
Currently there are more than 280,000 applicants from 217 countries with the majority aged 18 to 35 years.
Indonesia ranks seventh and from various cities, including Jakarta, Bandung, Mataram to Jayapura.
Most applicants were from Turkey, followed by China, the United States, Brazil and the United Kingdom.
Satellite launched this year
The first presence in space will be made this year by sending a satellite via NASA’s spacecraft to be brought to the space station, the International Space Station, belonging to the United States space agency.
Lena de Winne said photos or data from those who registered would be brought along with this satellite. From the ISS, this satellite will only be in orbit.
But De Winne could not mention the exact date because the launch schedule was waiting from NASA.
People’s response
Many have welcomed the project in various comments via Asgardia’s Facebook account, including an account in the name of Vishal Swami who wrote, “Asgardia is a great destination. I thank those who make this great nation.”
Another user, Yanaka Putra wrote, “I joined because I want to live in space… Is there an estimated time when Asgardians start moving into space? Not a space nation if they don’t live in space.”
A marketing specialist who arranges monthly meetings for Asgardians living in Hong Kong, John Spiro, said it was this data or personal items sent into space that attracted him to enlist.
“I keep Buddhist sutras as a hobby and sending one of these religious items in electronic text ‘to heaven’ is something really fun,” Spiro was quoted as saying by CNN.
Platform in space
The Asgardia team will build the platform in space at a low orbit about 100 to 600 kilometers from Earth’s surface. The ISS is also located in low orbit.
The first ‘human’ flights will take place in eight years but will initially be limited to “professionals” including spacecraft pilots and navigation experts, Lena de Winne said.
While the space tourist project being flown to the Asgardia platform will take even longer to prepare, De Winne added.
Founder of Asgardia
Russian scientist Igor Ashurbeyli said at the launch of the project last October that the move, “It’s not a fantasy. Going to Mars and stuff is fake. I wanted something more real.”
The 53-year-old scientist funded the project himself but the amount was not disclosed.
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