Italy has established its first National Space Day, held on 16 December, in memory of the launch of its first satellite, the “San Marco 1”, on 15 December 1964, which made Italy the third country in the world to go beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.
To celebrate National Space Day, the Italian Embassy in Berlin and the National Research Council (CNR) have organised an online event entitled “Inward bound: exploring the inner region of the Solar System” on the “Bepi Colombo” and “Solar Orbiter” missions.
“Bepi Colombo”, a joint ESA-JAXA mission, will explore Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, providing answers to important scientific questions: why is Mercury denser than other planets? Does it have tectonic activity? Is Mercury’s core liquid or solid? And most importantly, what does Mercury teach us about the composition of the solar nebula and the formation of the planetary system?
“Solar Orbiter”, a joint ESA-NASA project, is a complex scientific laboratory sent directly to the Sun. It will take closer images of the Sun than any other spacecraft and will observe its polar regions for the first time. Among the questions S.O. could answer are: what drives the eleven-year cycle of magnetic and sunspot activity? Why does the temperature of the Sun’s corona reach millions of degrees? How does solar wind originate? And how do these phenomena affect our planet?
The seminar, introduced by Ambassador Armando Varricchio and CNR President Maria Chiara Carrozza, will be attended by Johannes Benkhoff (ESA) and Barbara Negri (ASI). This will be followed by a panel moderated by Paolo Ferri (ESA), with the participation of Vania Da Deppo (CNR), Silvano Fineschi (INAF), Nicola Tosi (DLR Berlin), Hauke Hussmann (DLR Berlin).
“Today, space exploration is crucial for the achievement of scientific and technological goals, as well as for trade. The space economy is playing a crucial role in the development of new technologies and the launch and expansion of new ventures, thus paving the way for strong economic growth. In this context, satellites all over the world today serve all kinds of purposes in the fields of science, communication, security, earth monitoring and – yes – even entertainment,” Ambassador Varricchio commented: “Aerospace is an area where Germany and Italy clearly show their mutual desire to further develop bilateral cooperation. As Europe’s first and second largest manufacturing countries, we both share an interest in strengthening competitiveness in advanced sectors, as well as a political vision of a public-private partnership, to make the European business ecosystem more competitive”. The Ambassador also expressed the wish to see Italy and Germany define common objectives together in this strategic sector and develop them in broader formats, such as trilateral cooperation with a key partner like France.