If youre looking for a new country, you might want to consider the stars.
The worlds first space nation named Asgardia, after the Norse mythological city of the skies launched on Sunday, sending a satellite to the International Space Station, according to CNN.
The satellite is about the size of a loaf of bread.
The nation contains 0.5 TB of data, which belong to the 18,000 Asgardia citizens. The data include such items as family photos and digital representations of the Asgardia flag and constitution.
So far, 114,000 people have joined the nation. Its completely free to join.
Russian scientist Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli founded the nation in October 2016, according to CNN.
Dont get too excited about the prospect just yet. As Slate writer Neel V. Patel wrote, Its a kind of futuristic utopian dream that is also totally unrealistic.
I dont want to polemicize what makes a country a country, but I think we can all agree its more than just a bit of information on an external drive floating around aimlessly somewhere, he wrote.
Patel said the country also has economic restraints. For example, its housed at the International Space Station, which requires nearly $100 billion to develop and run for just 10 years. Citizens from the country could never physically live on the space station with current funding, Patel wrote.
And the countrys political leaders face potential issues, too. People can actually run for office in this nation through its website. But their power may be limited.
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty is the most binding resolution the international community has in terms of what countries are allowed to do off the planet, and its 50 years old. It certainly doesnt provide any direction for how a new nation in space could be created or how it should function, Patel wrote.
For now, the country will orbit in a satellite above Earth, according to New Scientist.
Ashurbeyli looks to have the United Nations recognize the country. His ultimate dream is to see Asgardia colonize other planets, New Scientist reported.
Time will tell whether the Space Kingdom of Asgardia becomes the first space-based nation," according to New Scientist, "or whether it will remain simply an orbiting external hard drive.
The worlds first space nation named Asgardia, after the Norse mythological city of the skies launched on Sunday, sending a satellite to the International Space Station, according to CNN.
The satellite is about the size of a loaf of bread.
The nation contains 0.5 TB of data, which belong to the 18,000 Asgardia citizens. The data include such items as family photos and digital representations of the Asgardia flag and constitution.
So far, 114,000 people have joined the nation. Its completely free to join.
Russian scientist Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli founded the nation in October 2016, according to CNN.
Dont get too excited about the prospect just yet. As Slate writer Neel V. Patel wrote, Its a kind of futuristic utopian dream that is also totally unrealistic.
I dont want to polemicize what makes a country a country, but I think we can all agree its more than just a bit of information on an external drive floating around aimlessly somewhere, he wrote.
Patel said the country also has economic restraints. For example, its housed at the International Space Station, which requires nearly $100 billion to develop and run for just 10 years. Citizens from the country could never physically live on the space station with current funding, Patel wrote.
And the countrys political leaders face potential issues, too. People can actually run for office in this nation through its website. But their power may be limited.
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty is the most binding resolution the international community has in terms of what countries are allowed to do off the planet, and its 50 years old. It certainly doesnt provide any direction for how a new nation in space could be created or how it should function, Patel wrote.
For now, the country will orbit in a satellite above Earth, according to New Scientist.
Ashurbeyli looks to have the United Nations recognize the country. His ultimate dream is to see Asgardia colonize other planets, New Scientist reported.
Time will tell whether the Space Kingdom of Asgardia becomes the first space-based nation," according to New Scientist, "or whether it will remain simply an orbiting external hard drive.