SIRIUS-23: Six Months In Isolation, Six More Months to Go

From the official website of Asgardia Space Nation

Do not forget the date to schedule: 05 Cancer (24 May), Friday, 13:00 UTC

Gem 24, 08May 15, 24

At the halfway point of the SIRIUS-23 isolation experiment, Asgardia is inviting the public to a special webinar, ‘SIRIUS-23: Six months in isolation. Six more months to go.’ The event, scheduled for 05 Cancer (24 May) at 13:00 UTC, will feature Sergey Ponomarev, SIRIUS Project Executive Director, Floris Wuyts, Minister of Science of Asgardia, and Lena De Winne, Prime Minister of Asgardia.

Today, 23 Gemini 0008 (14 May 2024), the SIRIUS-23 isolation experiment is halfway through. 

Six volunteers including Asgardia’s Resident and crew physician Ksenia Orlova spent six months in the sealed facility of the Ground Experimental Complex at the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP). The crew celebrates this important milestone of the long-term spaceflight simulation.

Meanwhile, Asgardia’s top officials and SIRIUS Project Executive Director are gearing up for a new exciting webinar. The lineup of speakers couldn’t be more impressive and better suited for the occasion:

Lena De Winne, Prime Minister of Asgardia, with 30 years of experience in the space industry starting with her work at the European Space Agency (ESA). Lena De Winne holds an MSc in engineering, an MBA, and a PhD in psychology. She is an experienced public speaker focusing on human spaceflight, and has authored several books on space for children and adults. 

Professor Floris Wuyts, responsible for the development of the scientific field of the Space Nation’s activities, is a member of the ESA Artificial Gravity Expert Group and Principal Investigator of ESA projects on human space physiology. The renowned scientist has published over 300 papers and has over 14,000 citations. Floris Wuyts is Head of the Laboratory for Equilibrium Investigations and Aerospace (LEIA) at the University of Antwerp. Prof. Wuyts is also a vertigo expert at the European Institute for Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery. He authored a book on vestibular disorders and is a co-investigator of an NSBRI/NASA study on space motion sickness.

Asgardia’s guest speaker, Sergey Ponomarev, is the Head of the Immune System Physiology Laboratory and Executive Director of the SIRIUS Project. He is in charge of immunology research, holds PhD in Medicine, and is a Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics. As a specialist directly involved in the ongoing experiment, Dr Ponomarev is ready to share the peculiar details of the SIRIUS-23 crew’s unique experience and cutting-edge research with Asgardia’s audience.

Lena De Winne, Floris Wuyts, and Sergey Ponomarev will summarise the intermediate experiment results, share little-known facts about life in isolation, discuss the steps towards Asgardia’s key scientific mission of having a baby born in space, and hold a Q&A session at the end of the webinar.

Webinar details

Date and time:           05 Cancer (24 May), Friday, 13:00 UTC

Site:                           Asgardia TV

Subject:                     SIRIUS-23: Six months in isolation, six more months to go

Ministry:                     Science

Hosts:                        Lena De Winne, Prime Minister of Asgardia

                                  Floris Wuyts, Minister of Science of Asgardia

Special guest:           Sergey Ponomarev, SIRIUS Project Executive Director

To accomplish its primary scientific mission of having a baby born in space, Asgardia needs to find the tools to protect the female body from the negative factors associated with spaceflight. This is why Asgardia is actively participating in the year-long SIRIUS-23 experiment. Asgardia is one of the main international partners of the experiment. Crew physician Ksenia Orlova is in charge of a joint Asgardia and IBMP program to study the effects of isolation as a spaceflight factor on the female body.