Antarctic Settlement Research Group

Antarctic Settlement Research Group ASRG
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Language	English
Membership
Members	26 (as of January, 2024)
Founder	ToryPirate
Establishment
Founded	March 9th, 2020
Purpose Discussion of best practices for Antarctic settlement with the aim of one day settling on the continent.

The Antarctic Settlement Research Group (ASRG) is a collection of individuals interested in the eventual colonization of Earth's most southern continent. The group maintains a small private subreddit for storing reference materials, maps, and theoretical discussion threads. The long-term goal is the founding of a sovereign country in Antarctica with a permanent population residing there. Short-term goals include growing the research team and demonstrating that settlement of Antarctica is feasible from a survival, economic, and cultural stance.

History

The group was founded in March, 2020 by Reddit user ToryPirate with it having 16 members by August of the same year. At the start of 2021 ToryPirate took a brief hiatus to focus on other projects. He returned to the project in late June of that year. By July the group had 21 members. On November 10 the group launched a website which is meant to be the 'public face' of the group. While the group would have 27 members by 2022 the subreddit activity of the group would fall off as individuals pursued their own projects. Recruitment on Reddit had dried up by 2023 with those vocally interested in Antarctic settlement having either already been contacted by the group or gone inactive before the group was even founded. The group continued at a low rate of activity until the very end of 2023 when ToryPirate, returned to the task of putting together a settlement plan.

Subreddit Structure

The group's subreddit remains an important part of how the group organizes itself and the reference materials it collects. Posts are categorized as; Reference, Strategy, Heraldry, Mod Post, Question, Map, and Misc. As of September 1, 2021 there were 38 posts by 8 authors. With 19 Reference posts, 4 Strategy posts, 1 Heraldry post, 1 Mod post, 3 Question posts, 7 Map posts, and 2 Misc. posts.

Current State of Research

Research Area	Low Readiness	Moderate Readiness	Viable Plan Ready
Travel	X
Population	X
Food		X
Shelter		X
Economy		X
Government		X

Travel

Actually getting to Antarctica may prove the hardest, and most expensive, part of any settlement effort. Discussion of solutions to this problem have so far been limited.

Population

No settlement can exist without a population and a means of increasing that population. While there has been some discussion on the challenges of attracting settlers, no solutions have been put forward.

Food

Food is a vitally important issue. Discussion on this topic has produced a few workable ideas such as greenhouses, fishing, and hunting various animals.

Shelter

Shelter against the cold Antarctic temperatures is as vital as a reliable food supply. Being able to build dwellings in a cost-effective manner is also important. Discussion has produced at least one possible solution. Discussion of the use of walls as windbreaks and passive defence has also taken place.

Economy

If a settlement is to survive there must be some means of acquiring money to buy needed supplies and attract settlers. Several ideas have been discussed including meteorite mining which takes advantage of Antarctica's natural ability to concentrate meteorites and leave them visible for collection.

Government

Discussion on the form of government has led to draft constitutions being written. The ASRG is monarchist and Christian in outlook and its constitution reflects this.

Opinion on Other Antarctic Claims

The Antarctic Settlement Research Group does not recognize territorial claims by any government, organization, or group, not backed up by permanent settlement on the continent.

External links

• Official Website
  ToryPirate (Founder and Spokesman of the Antarctic Settlement Research Group)
  Research (Released publicly as a test case in August)