October 2021
Space in the movies – lessons for spacefarers
Lembit Öpik is Chair of Asgardia’s Parliament - the world’s first digital democracy. Here he boldly goes where no Chairman has gone before, with a wistful look at the cinematic portrayal of life in space versus the likely reality… and how it might ...
February 2023
Cultivating cultural memory as Asgardians
... prowess. Such a goal will not, indeed cannot, be achieved by technical expertise alone. It must be accompanied by humanity itself, by culture, by laws and agreements and values. Since Asgardia was established in 2016 there have been many exciting...
June 2018
Cosmic communications and the anthropology of outer space
... This framing piques anthropologists’ interest because it illustrates how the exploration of space is a rich terrain for human cultural experience. Staggering data The Breakthrough Listen team, led by Andrew Siemion and Dan Wertheimer, analyses radio...
August 2020
Revisiting the Drake Equation - a cultural addendum
... was written by Carl Sagan. About the author Savannah Mandel’s love of science fiction and interest in human culture drove her to combine the two passions into a career as an outer space anthropologist. Previously, she conducted research...
February 2021
Space archaeology - preserving our orbital heritage
...Astronaut Chris Hadfield once said that “Spaceflight isn’t just about doing experiments, it’s about an extension of human culture”. It is this cultural framing that makes the examination of orbital debris — our ‘space junk’ — so important. The sooner...
May 2017
Recipe for success on flights to Mars
... always most apparent during mealtimes when the normally jovial atmosphere became tense and quiet. Expression of culture Apart from nutrition, food affects us on so many levels; it’s hard to understate its importance on a mission. Not having enough...
