When the earthquake occurred, I was walking down the street with my grandmother to the house where Artak lived. It was literally 10 minutes which separated me from ending up under the ruins. They searched for my aunt and cousin for a long time, for almost 24 hours. Nine-year-old Artak supported his mother until the end: he calmed her and told her that rescuers were near and would surely get them out. My aunt ended up being rescued. My cousin simply didn’t have enough strength.
The NRK87. story
Every persons gets
beautiful chances in their life
beautiful chances in their life
The NRK87. story
Every persons gets
beautiful chances in their life
beautiful chances in their life
A journey spanning a million kilometers, as
you know, begins with the first step
Any conversation starts with the first word. For me, that word has always been "responsibility". This has its reasons.
On December 7, 1988, the Spitak earthquake took place. It was one of the most destructive in the history of the Earth. According to official figures, 25 000 people died. The wave caused by the earthquake went around the planet twice. My family was at the epicenter of this tragedy. People close to me were pulled out from under the rubble. That's when lost my cousin. His name was Artak.
I was told that he was perhaps the happiest of all to see my birth. He did not leave my cradle, he tried to help my mother with everything, he fed me from a bottle, and later brought me absolutely everything that was given to him: sweets, toys, even clothes. In December 1988, he was 9 years old.
When the earthquake occurred, I was walking down the street with my grandmother to the house where Artak lived. It was literally 10 minutes which separated me from ending up under the ruins. They searched for my aunt and cousin for a long time, for almost 24 hours. Nine-year-old Artak supported his mother until the end: he calmed her and told her that rescuers were near and would surely get them out. My aunt ended up being rescued. My cousin simply didn’t have enough strength.
I will always carry this pain.
The feeling of fragile life and the need to think about tomorrow were key for me when choosing my path and making any decision. Having grown up, I often thought that if my cousin was wearing clothes with a tracker he would be alive today.
I needed to create such clothes. A telephone can get misplaced, a device can lose its charge or simply not be nearby. People won’t carry a separate GPS device with them. The source of the signal and the communication device must be located in the clothes themselves.
Together with my team, we solved this problem and created NRK87. - a brand of cool, stylish clothing with NFC and GPS tags that can be used to easily find a person.
We use unusual, cosmic fabrics and cut to build a “comfort dome”. And to help, if the need arises.
Once we understood that we answered this first need, we had a second one pop up and it was a bigger challenge: why not take on a bigger responsibility and think about a “backup planet”? About a new home for humanity.
That’s how the idea of Mars came up. Sooner or later, I’ll find a way to get there - by investing in progress and developments, by searching for unusual solutions, by attracting the best experts and audacious dreamers.
The story of my family revealed that unexpected things can happen to each one of us and to our planet. We better be prepared for the unexpected and do it in style and as responsible human-beings. As human-beings that will one day take a walk on Mars. As a family. For me, this is a fundamentally important point.