Asgardia, the First 'Space Nation,' Inaugurated Its First Leader and Now Plans to Colonize Space
The citizens of the newly-formed "space nation" of Asgardia, who have just witnessed a lavish inauguration ceremony that installed its first ruler, are now expecting to one day set up human colonies on the moon and elsewhere. They are also expecting more citizens to join them from all over the world as well.
Around 200,000 people already counted themselves as members of Asgardia, fittingly named after the famed flying city in the ancient Norse mythology, as the Independent pointed out.
In order to fulfill their lofty goals of colonizing the moon and provide democratic access to space, the new "space nation" will need more citizens. As its first ruler, Russian billionaire and scientist Igor Ashurbeyli noted, what they will need as their new citizens will be the "most creative" of people.
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"Citizenship selection will continue. It might even involve IQ tests," he noted.
The inauguration of the fledgling space nation was held at the ancient Hofburg palace in Vienna on Monday, June 25, which placed the Russian scientist as its self-proclaimed leader.
"This day will certainly be recorded in the annals of the greatest events in the history of humankind," Ashurbeyli said in his speech,
"We have thus established all branches of government. I can therefore declare with confidence that Asgardia – the first space nation of the united humankind – has been born," he added.
The group, which is for now formally a non-profit non-governmental organization based out of Vienna, eventually plans to build an extensive colony in space that not only provides immediate access to space travel, but also defend the planet from meteorites, space debris, and other threats.
To stake its claim in the reaches far beyond Earth, the group has started with a satellite called Asgardia-1, a tiny "nanosat" that houses a 512-gigabyte hard drive containing the "nation's constitution, national symbols, and the personally selected data of the Asgardian citizenship," according to the Business Insider.
