[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

I don't consider myself an authority, but I will try to answer your questions.

In the comics, the Marvel Universe was generally unprepared space invasion wise until the original Kree-Skrull war. This was published in the comics in the early 70s. Since then, Earth has ramped up its preparedness, both officially and unofficially.

Officially, space based initiatives like S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation and Response Department) and Starcore (space based observation of the sun, later establishing moon bases) have been initiated to better protect the Earth from space based threats. S.W.O.R.D. is a military type organization like S.H.I.E.L.D., and Starcore is a UN initiative.

Unofficially, a group called like the Illuminati formed amongst the major heroes after the Kree-Skrull war to share information the different teams have on various space based races, realizing they could have stopped the Kree-Skrull war if they shared information. Ostensibly this would help them defeat future space borne threats as well. Also, it turns out Nick Fury has silently been guarding Earth using extreme measures ("...including systematically torturing aliens, committing indiscriminate genocide on planetary civilizations, and starting wars spanning entire galaxies..." according to the Marvel wikia) since the first UFO crashed on Earth in 1958-ish.

As far as I know, the world at large is either generally unaware of space based threats, or confident that the Earth's heroes can deal with these problems as they arise. The governments try their own things (S.W.O.R.D., Starcore, etc) but also are at the mercy of the heroes saving the day.

I think Asgard is another dimension in the movies and in the comics, as opposed to a far flung planet in the depths of space. I'm not certain of that though.

Not sure if that helps or not.

Asgard kind of gets muddy when you have Lady Sif and Volstagg dropping off Aethor with the Collector who was in Guardians.