IRIS/AsteronX in a Nutshell

Our future lies among the stars

Our Mission Statement

We are an international movement, focused on developing a responsible and prosperous future for all mankind, by becoming better stewards of Terra, while simultaneously reaching towards the stars, exploring and settling new worlds, to ensure the highest possible standard of living for all human beings, both living and unborn, into the indefinite future.

IRIS/AsteronX in a Nutshell

  1. The International Research Institute for Space, also known as AsteronX or by its abbreviation, IRIS, is an organisation founded with the intent to become a multinational space organisation that will operate and maintain a fleet of spacecraft and spaceships, for exploration, research, and if necessary, development of technology, as well as conduct diplomacy1 between human settlements and nations.
  2. To facilitate further funding, research, and technological development this organisation will be incorporated as a non-profit international non-governmental organisation.
  3. IRIS (AsteronX) is tasked with managing finances, education, and promotion, and will use its collected funds to support transstellar2/interstellar research and development projects in a partnership or membership programme.
  4. IRIS partners or members will independently manage research, development, and construction towards the common objective of establishing self-sufficient settlements in deep space and on planetary bodies under the collective banner of humanity.
  1. Specifically, our objectives are:
    1. The development of clean fusion energy and vacuum energy, both to solve the energy needs of our planet, Terra, and to power all manner of aircraft and spacecraft, including
    2. faster than light starships, which we intend to develop, powered by vacuum energy, as the only practical means of emigrating folks offworld in order to both safeguard humanity as a whole against the risk of extinction by spreading to multiple worlds, and to quickly reduce the strain on Terra by offworld emigration, and
    3. the establishment of a permanent and self-sufficient settlement on at least one habitable exoplanet before the end of the century.
  2. We refer to this endeavour as the Eos Project, from the ancient Greek word for dawn, as this project represents the dawn of a new era for humanity as a whole.
  3. To this end we will collaborate with other large multinational organisations, such as the United Nations, Earth Charter International, The Venus Project, etc.
  4. As a part of this we embrace and support only the peaceful, sustainable, equitable, equal, and multinational exploration, settlement, and development of outer space.
  5. We do not claim to have a perfect, or even complete plan. On the contrary, we emphasise that it is not specific plans or technologies that are important, but rather the gradual and consistent effort towards achieving interstellar flight and establishing interplanetary, transstellar, and interstellar settlements.
  6. We have nothing to do with the so-called ‘ufology’ community and distance ourselves, therefore, from ‘ufologists’ and so-called &lsquofringe science&rsquo and most &lsquofringe scientists&rsquo, and all manner of charlatans and misguided individuals who claim to have &lsquorevolutionary&rsquo breakthroughs without any solid evidence, which as a rule have nothing to do with real science and are more often than not nothing but frauds or self-delusions.
  7. We are not opposed to working with scientists, engineers, or other individuals who have unusual, controversial, or potentially groundbreaking theories or findings, provided that solid, well-documented evidence and sound reasoning is given.
  8. We do not have any dogmas or doctrines, and we do not live by any.
  9. We do not ‘have faith in science’, nor believe in science, rather we trust solid, well-researched, well-founded evidence, and utilise and understand the scientific method as the best tool to sort out and ascertain what is truth and what is false.
  10. We do not oppose official agencies and national governments, and we do not reject serving in national militaries for a defence army.
  11. We tolerate all secular or religious views or belief systems—but this does not mean we must align ourselves with them. Within IRIS/AsteronX there exists no religious, cultlike thinking or belief systems.
  12. We respect3 all individuals who are ethical and morally upstanding, regardless of their views or beliefs, however, this does not mean that we respect or accept any belief systems or religious views an individual may have.
  13. We reject all extremism of an ideological, political or religious nature, as well as all fundamentalism, terrorism, anarchism, dogmatism, fanaticism and similar or identical ills.
  14. We are against all religious, military and political insurrections and reject all forms of aggressive actions.
  15. We are against revolutions and wars of any sort unless they are strictly for defence that leads to progress and peace.
  16. We are for the freedom of humanity to ethically, peacefully, and sustainably explore, carry out research, and establish settlements. This is a freedom that must not be suppressed, not by financial, regulatory, institutional, religious, sectarian, or secular means. To do so endangers the future survival of humanity.
  17. In order to ensure that humanity has a prosperous future, individuals must be able to reach and express their full potential. This requires the establishment of an extensive and as far as possible, unconstrained presence in space, obviously with the caveat that all activities must be ethical, peaceful, and sustainable.
  18. We are of the opinion that it is only through the development of extensive space infrastructure, and the spread of humanity to other worlds, even in other solar systems, that we can achieve highest possible standard of living for all human beings.
  19. Given the diversity of life on Earth, the earliness of its appearence, and the prevalence throughout the cosmos of proto-life compounds, we are convinced that Earth is not the only life-bearing place in the Universe, and that intelligent humanoid and non-humanoid life exists on non-terrestrial worlds.
  20. We are for the peaceful and equal interaction with non-terrestrial intelligences, as and when they are encountered.
  21. We are of the opinion that to disregard this, and therefore only make plans for an eventual encounter with non-terrestrial intelligences at such time as it actually occurs, is a mistake that will lead to a repeat of tragedies that have played out on Earth—or worse.
  22. We are unwilling to missionize in any form for the things IRIS stands for; we do, however, state our ideas, opinions and views to others if they come to ask and pose questions on their own initiative.
  23. We strictly oppose any abuse of legal or illegal drugs and of alcohol.
  24. We are not politically active in any form within the IRIS framework.
  25. In addition to the above points, we take the Earth Charter as a guideline for our own choices and actions, and support its universal adoption. https://earthcharter.org/read-the-earth-charter/

1 We use the following definition of diplomacy: 1. The art and practice of conducting international relations by negotiating alliances, treaties, agreements etc., bilaterally or multilaterally, between states and sometimes international organizations, or even between polities with varying status, such as those of monarchs and their princely vassals. 2. Tact and subtle skill in dealing with people so as to avoid or settle hostility.

2 We use the following definition of transstellar: 1. Existing or occurring over distances slightly less than typical interstellar distances (< 1 light year, approximately 0.3 parsecs). 2. Spanning or crossing between stars.

3 We use the following definition of respect: 1. An attitude of consideration or high regard (regard, definition: the worth or estimation in which something or someone is held). 2. Good opinion, honour, or admiration.


Why is Space Exploration and the Human Settlement of Outer Space and Foreign Worlds Important?

To begin with, with an extensive presence in space, we can monitor Earth more extensively, and make that information readily available to whatever labs or individuals need it. For example, we (humanity) currently argue a lot over Earth's carrying capacity, whereas if we were monitoring Earth extensively from space, the exact amount of arable land, land suitable for grazing, fertile ocean regions, could be determined, it would also be easier to determine the actual population of the planet with much greater accuracy.

Similarly, with an extensive space presence, we can also establish even more widespread, reliable, and increasingly inexpensive communication and data transfer, permitting the free flow of ideas and information, with a net benefit to humanity.

There are a multitude of new kinds of manufacturing, biotech, etc., that can only be performed in a microgravity environment, there are new compounds and alloys that could be produced in microgravity. And while we will before too long have the ability to create microgravity on Earth, for a while yet it will be easier to achieve in space. Furthermore, we can move most manufacturing off-planet to Earth orbit and Luna.

Luna may prove more suitable for many kinds of manufacturing, due to the presence of a gravitational field, solid ground, and nearby resources for construction and manufacturing. Asteroid mining, as well as Lunar mining, could easily supply all of the raw materials required for human civilisation for centuries, even millennia, to come, especially if we are efficient and thoughtful with our material use. For example, mining of water in-space will greatly reduce the cost of moving satellites and general space transportation cost. This will reduce the expense of space-based telecommunications, and permit the construction of large solar arrays in space. These satellites have the advantage of requiring no fuel, nor requiring large areas of valuable ground to be taken up by large facilities, nor the drilling of deep shafts, such as with geothermal energy. This will eventually permit the near-total elimination of the pollution and environmental destruction caused by our energy production infrastructure, which is one of the largest, if not the absolute largest, sources of pollution and environmental damage. This alone should present sufficient reason to develop large-scale space infrastructure.

While automation will be invaluable in space and on other worlds, and will minimise the number of people that must be exposed to very hazardous conditions, relying exclusively or almost exclusively on automated machinery and robotic systems for monitoring and coordination risks endangering human beings or even threatening humanity's continued existence if malfunctions or software glitches arise, or due to unpredictable changes in our still primitive artificial intelligences. Undoubtedly we will eventually solve these problems and the risk of automated and self-aware systems malfunctioning, glitching, or revolting will be eliminated. But we cannot wait until that time to begin using automated systems, therefore human oversight is necessary and will be for some time, mandating a human presence in outer space.

Looking at historical examples, individuals have had a more progressive and optimistic attitude about the future in those times when new frontiers were being opened up, and consequently the overall cultural attitude was, for the time period, more progressive.

Space represents the final and ultimate frontier, we should explore and expand into it for the sake of giving individual human beings, and humanity as a whole, a progressive and optimistic future, even a progressive and ever-changing society that strives to be stimulating eventually becomes boring and then self-destructive without any major change or growth in some form, empires collapse when they cease expanding, companies fold when they fail to continue growing their market share, and individuals become indifferent and callous when their environment becomes stale and unstimulating.

Space exploration and settlement will provide an infinitely stimulating, that is, interesting, engaging, thought-provoking, and valueful environment for humanity to explore and research.

Lastly, all stars have a finite lifetime, unpredictable and/or unstoppable events and phenomena could render Earth, perhaps even all worlds of the Solar system, uninhabitable. As we are creating a better society here on Earth, a true civilisation, then by the same logic and reasoning that drives us to do so, we should simultaneously be expanding that civilisation-in-the-making to uninhabited worlds foreign to Earth, and eventually, to foreign star systems as well.

This way we can ensure that humanity will continue to exist and prosper, and continue towards whatever destiny awaits us, even long into the future.

History

In pursuit of these aims, these objectives, we founded AsteronX in 2014, short for Asteron Explorations—‘asteron’ is derived from the Greek word for ‘star’. We wanted to create something akin to Starfleet from Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, though we were uncertain at the time as to how we would go about achieving this. To start with, in February 2017 we started the AsteronX YouTube channel, and began publishing videos about interstellar travel, beginning with the ‘warp drive’, which was at the time considered to be nothing more than fiction by most folks, this very first video would go on to become the most watched video on the Alcubierre Warp Drive, and as of August 2022 had over 2 million views.

In early 2020 we took another step towards our objective and began the Eos Project, a project to establish humanity amongst the stars, it was then that we first thought of an international interstellar-advocacy organisation, calling it the International Research Institute for Space, with the memorable abbreviation of IRIS.

In June of 2021, we began the process of creating IRIS as a non-profit organisation, which the intention that—among other things—it will manage an interstellar fund, grown steadily through various fundraisers, donations, and membership fees. The ‘International Research Institute for Space’ is now the official name of our organisation, though ‘AsteronX’ and ‘IRIS’ are also used as secondary names, hence ‘IRIS-AsteronX’. Our YouTube channel now has over fifty-five thousand subscribers, and more than two million total views.

We are just barely taking the first steps of the beginning, the utmost beginning of the beginning. The project, the Eos Project, is gaining momentum at an exponential rate.

In modern times, that is, the last few decades, there has not been an organisation dedicated to establishing a settlement on an exoplanet by a fixed deadline. SpaceX is dedicated to establishing a self-sufficient civilisation on Mars. But where is the SpaceX for the Oort cloud and its innumerable Earth mass planets? Or exoplanets in Alpha Centauri, Barnard's Star, Epsilon Eridani, or Tau Ceti?

There's a saying, ‘build it and they will come’, it refers to how often, when something is done, others find a way to make it work. Build a railroad across a continent? Folks sooner or later made it work. Commercialise space travel? Many companies and individuals are currently working hard on that.

The same must be done for interstellar space and transstellar settlement. An entire Universe—or more—is waiting out there for us, full of mystery, discoveries, adventure, and who knows what else, we need only to take the bold first step.