New Astronaut Training App Can Get You a Free Trip to Space
HELSINKI, FINLAND, 2018 – Finnish startup Space Nation launches the Space Nation Astronaut Program with the world’s first astronaut training app.
Highlights:
- Space Nation has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA and developed the app content with real-life astronaut trainers.
- The app is the first step in an astronaut training program aimed at a global audience.
- One candidate will go to space as a Space Nation Astronaut every year.
The launch of the Space Nation Astronaut Program means that for the first time ever the universal dream of space travel is within the reach of anyone with a smartphone. Regardless of age, nationality, education or background, anyone in the world can now begin astronaut training through a mobile app. Developed in partnership with NASA astronaut trainers, the free Space Nation Navigator app trains candidates in basic astronaut skills via minigames, quizzes, fitness challenges and narrative adventures.
Kalle Vähä-Jaakkola, CEO, and co-founder of Space Nation announced the release of the Space Nation Navigator app on April 7, 2018, at Yuri’s Night L.A., an event celebrating the first human, Yuri Gagarin, to travel to space.
“If we could go from sending the first man to space to putting a man on the Moon in just eight years,” said Vähä-Jaakkola, “imagine where we can be in eight years from the first commercial human spaceflight with the current speed of technological progress. With 3D printing, we can even print entire houses, and easily build things on remote planets. Advancements in urban farming and hydroponics enable growing on soilless planets. Reusable space crafts and docking stations drive down the price of a ticket to space. And harnessing the resources of the Moon, even more.”
The first step in the Space Nation Astronaut Program – one candidate goes to space
The Space Nation Navigator app will feature more and more content as 2018 progresses. Candidates will be able to unlock achievements and become eligible for prizes and astronaut training experiences. Space Nation Navigator is also the first step in the Space Nation Astronaut Program – a global competition in which one candidate will win a trip to space.
Space Nation’s co-founder and CCO Mazdak Nassir said “Space Nation Navigator and the Space Nation Astronaut Program are the first training tools for civilian pioneers of future space travel. Low Earth orbit is open for business, companies are preparing to mine asteroids and build hotels. More and more people will visit space. This next step in the new space race will require a host of skills, skills that Space Nation Navigator will provide to anyone in the world.”
Space Nation Navigator will be globally soft launched on April 12, the anniversary of humanity’s first space flight in 1961 and the launch of the first space shuttle in 1981.
Aspiring future civilian astronauts have the opportunity to shape the next steps in humanity’s journey to space by downloading the soft launch version of Space Nation Navigator and start preparing for the future.
Vähä-Jaakkola paid tribute to the pioneers of the first space age in his speech at Yuri’s Night L.A. and heralded the dawn of a new space age – an era whose heroes will be regular people from all around the world. “Space Nation Navigator’s release puts app users right at the center of the democratization of space. As crazy as it sounds, downloading the app could really be your first step on a journey to visit space.”
Space Nation Navigator is available for download in the Google Play Store. For more information, visit: https://spacenationnavigator.com.
Additional quotes from the speech at Yuri’s night:
Vähä-Jaakkola: ” With changing human perspectives on space travel – imagine how we can transform the way people perceive our spaceship Earth, and the way we build our houses, grow our food, treat our water resources, our waste management, and working together with common goals. The way we treat life on Earth. The way we perceive our fragile little blue dot and the tiny little window of the time humanity has had on this planet. Because in the big picture, Earth is not the human planet. Earth is the planet of the dinosaurs who roamed here for more than 180 million years. That is more than 500 times longer than homo sapiens has existed. And you, of course, know why they went extinct. Because they didn’t have a space program.
And that is what we, at Space Nation aim to do: We want to engage everyone in space exploration and the discoveries that space travel will bring us. To engage them in the astronaut perspective on Earth and how we treat our planet to make it viable for humans for millennials to come. It’s that perspective that matters the most, rather than if they actually go to space or not.”
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About Space Nation
Founded in 2013 and based in Helsinki, Finland, Space Nation is pioneering humanity’s transition to the new space era by providing space experiences for global audiences. Space Nation has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA, has its own “office space” at the International Space Station and is the first space tourism company to become an Affiliate Member of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
Space Nation broke the Finnish crowdfunding recording in 2017 by raising the first €1M in just 43 minutes and has over 500 private investors.
Space Nation’s partners and advisors include Michael Suffredini, President and CEO of Axiom Space; John Barbera, former president of Turner Broadcasting Sales & 24/7 RealMedia; and Peter Vesterbacka, founder of the startup and tech event Slush in Helsinki and former Mighty Eagle at Rovio Entertainment, the creator of Angry Birds.
Connect with Space Nation:
https://spacenation.org/
For more information, please contact:
Hjörtur Smárason, PR Director, Space Nation
hjortur@spacenation.org, tel: +45 2280 1416
