Announcing the Citizen Astronaut Program | Space for Humanity

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Wanted Citizen Astronauts.jpg


The initial publication of this press release occurred on July 18th, 2019.

Do you dream of going to Space?

Space for Humanity wants to make your dream a reality.

Fifty years after highly trained NASA astronauts set foot on the moon, Space for Humanity today urged people from all walks of life to apply to go to space with all expenses covered by the nonprofit. Each crew member, however, must lead a long-term initiative with tangible social benefits after the once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“We believe space should be accessible to everyone, and that space travel creates a sense of awe that dramatically transforms people’s perspectives, as it clearly did for the Apollo 11 crew,” Rachel Lyons, executive director of Space for Humanity, said from the NewSpace Conference in Washington. “Our mission is to help regular people become citizen astronauts and, subsequently, social ambassadors working for the benefit of people and the planet.”

Now Accepting Applications

To apply, visit https://www.spaceforhumanity.org

The Denver-based organization today reopened its application process, asking candidates to describe why they want to see Earth from space and to propose a social impact project. The application is designed to support empirical research into how seeing Earth from a distance changes a person’s values. Conducting the research will be University of Pennsylvania research scientist David Bryce Yaden, an authority on the “Overview Effect” – the cognitive shift astronauts experience as they view the planet from orbit or on lunar missions.

“In my research, I have found that many astronauts report seeing the Earth from afar has affected them deeply and in an enduring way,” said Yaden. “By studying the experiences of Space for Humanity’s citizen astronauts, we think we can quantify this often transformative process and learn more about how the Overview Effect works, how long the changes might last, and how new perspectives can inspire positive action on behalf of humanity as a whole.”

Unlike initiatives to send wealthy tourists or artists to space, Space for Humanity is committed to democratizing and diversifying space travel, bringing the opportunity to diverse socioeconomic segments and de-emphasizing traditional astronaut credentials such as aviation and engineering expertise.

“Many of us thought during the riveting moments of the moon landing that the day would come when humans from all walks of life would follow in the footsteps of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin,” said Space for Humanity advisor Frank White. White coined the term “Overview Effect” and is author of The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution a seminal work on the topic. “Today, ordinary citizens’ dreams of space exploration are becoming reality, and we believe the changes they experience can tangibly improve life on Earth.”

What’s next in flight preparation

A crew of citizen astronauts will be selected for the first Space for Humanity flight in the months following the closing of the applications. Their chosen social impact venture must somehow advance the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which include ending poverty and hunger, and promoting equality, learning, environmental protection, health, peace, and economic opportunity.
Space for Humanity is currently raising funds for capacity building, program development, and flight training for astronauts. Early donations have been secured, and a fundraising campaign surrounding financial goals will commence in coming months. Space for Humanity’s leadership team is engaged in talks with several potential launch partners, including Blue Origin, as private space companies race to achieve readiness for crewed flights.

About Space for Humanity
Space for Humanity is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was founded to create a positive social impact on the world by enabling citizen astronauts from all backgrounds to experience the cognitive shift in worldview that can occur when seeing Earth from space. www.spaceforhumanity.org

For more information, to make a gift, or collaborate with us, visit spaceforhumanity.org/contribute

Space for Humanity is on Steem

For technical partnerships, please contact todd (at) spaceforhumanity.org

steemit space sustainable-development blockchain sdgs
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(Edited)

Hey there! This is Todd Youngblood, the Director of Technology at Space for Humanity.

Thanks for checking out our post! We're excited about the capability of the blockchain and electronic contracts within our organization, particularly in Research & Development. We are architecting our technology around the blockchain to measure the reach of the Impact Ventures lead by our Citizen Astronauts aligned United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We're excited about our participation within the Steem community and look forward to the upcoming developments within the ecosystem.

If you have any questions about our program, I can be reached via the email in the original post or you can follow me @circa.

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(Edited)

I have added a small self-vote to ensure visibility. [since removed]

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Hello Todd! As a fellow space professional and enthusiast t's really cool to have your project on Steem.

Would you mind sharing this article on your Twitter account and just tell the world your content can aslo be found on Steem/Steemit? Mostly for us to know that this is indeed you and not someone else copying the texts in hope for rewards.

Thank you!

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This is amazing, where in space would we be going to and how long?

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We're working on partnerships for Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) flights initially, with potential partners including Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and WorldView. Over the next 10 years, as the commercial spaceflight industry expands, we will start looking toward beyond LEO, sponsoring spaceflight to the ISS and beyond.

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Hi Todd,
please don't use bidbots to this extend.

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To listen to the audio version of this article click on the play image.

Brought to you by @tts. If you find it useful please consider upvoting this reply.

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Congratulations @spacehumanity! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

You published your First Post
You got a First Vote
You received more than 100 upvotes. Your next target is to reach 250 upvotes.

You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!
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What a life-changing experience! I cannot wait to see more from this project.

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Interesante el hecho de que el hombre haya dado ese "salto" de ir a la luna porque han sido muchos los beneficios para la humanidad, y las expectativas futuras,lo que siglos atrás era remoto.Infinitos los lugares existente en el universo y limitada la estadía del hombre en este pequeño planeta, donde por la inconsciencia de la humanidad esta deteriorado, y, según estudiosos en la materia unas cuantas décadas para dejar de ser habitado, por la sencilla razón de que como dice en las escrituras, en Jeremías 10:23"...No pertenece al hombre que esta andando siquiera dirigir su paso....Antes de explorar otros espacios, el hombre tenia que explorarse a si mismo para estar en armonía en primer lugar con el Creador de tan basto universo,pero lamentablemente, no ha sido así .Felicitaciones spacehumanity por tan buen artículo y por permitirme recordar a ese magnifico Arquitecto Jehová Dios.

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That’s an awesome project but don’t we have a more precise date of launch ?

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Great question - we get this fairly often.

We're relying heavily on commercial flight providers, as the industry is still immature. Virgin Galactic has sold over 600 tickets but hasn't started flying regularly. Blue Origin hasn't started selling tickets and hasn't performed any manned flight tests. Given the risks involved in any spaceflight, the flight providers need to ensure that the vehicles, training, and flight processes are as safe as possible - requiring many test flights.

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Wow! I bet this maybe more realistic than the other project called Mars One, wouldn't it? Besides, a sub orbital flight isn't really space flight. Anyway I'm reading the above if a pinch of skepticism since one can view earth on a 8K TV or VR Oculus without subjecting to the harsh environment of 'space' flight.
How come dot org domain need to hide behind a GoDaddy Whois registry proxy? Strange indeed.

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While Mars One was certainly ambitious, we think our economic and operational approach is more sustainable, given our inclusion of social ventures operating under a non-profit entity. We have some long-term financial plans that will ensure that our operations can continue in perpetuity, but I can't say too much about that yet.

We have moved around our domains and web hosts a few times since launch. GoDaddy was and continues to be our primary domain host.

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we are happy to have your project on steemit,

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claro que si , pero que no olviden los precios, es más debería de ser a un costo en el cual todas las personas del mundo puedan tener la oportunidad...

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Seems like a fun project! I will be following for more details.

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Any private or independent effort to take people into space is great. We need to become a space fairing race.

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Vista previa
it would be a great experience gointo to space, but many people like can be scared of the huge planet that you can see in addition to it you can not walk in the way you are used to do it, but it is one of my dreams

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Yes I dream of going to space, but can't I go just because I want to? The astronauts who have been there, how have they impacted earth, for them to be requesting for projects for those who want to go.

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Is this the beginning of the age of exploration? I'm really exciting! Fill me in!!

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Perdon por ser un poco más esceptica. Primero, no creo que los norteaméricanos hayan llegado a la luna, ni nadie..Segundo, las oportunidades que se dan son solo para los que tiene dinero para solventar un gasto semejante.. no todo es gratis en la vida... y menos en el espacio...

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Fingers crossed let’s see what comes out if it

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that project sounds interesting. It's almost unimagined, but it would be a good opportunity to explore more and learn.

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hi @spacehumanity seriously yesterday I thought I will going to write about it today but you write it well great info, please also appreciate me my upvoting and following me as I can also upvote you in the future.

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all the greatest human beings who have a very open mentality dream of setting foot in our satellite called moon since the times of amstrong the world and changed and so many celebrities evolved as elon musks try to go even on mars the world evolves with a speed that exceeds expectations the fact that there is the possibility for people who are not famous shows that we have a different future than the present we have now

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Interesting, I hope this idea we become a real soon!

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This post earned a total payout of 183.596$ and 138.042$ worth of author reward which was liquified using @likwid. To learn more.

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