Past, present and future of Italy-Australia common projects to celebrate the National Italian Space Day
On the 15th of December 1964, San Marco 1, i.e. the first made in Italy satellite, left the earth on the American Scout rocket from Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, US, and remained in orbit for 272 days. Since then, Italy has always been one of the most active countries in space, playing a major role in all the scientific and technological aspects of what is arguably the most fascinating exploration effort of the third millennium.
For this occasion, the Italian Inter-ministerial Committee for Space and Aerospace Policies (COMINT) has approved in 2021 the establishment of a National Space Day to be celebrated on 16 December, the day after the first launch of the San Marco 1. The Day aims at providing information about Italian space projects and at showcasing the excellence and the wide scope of Italian research and industry in this very important sector.
To celebrate the first National Italian Space Day the Italian Embassy in Canberra, in collaboration with the Australian National University and the Italian Cultural Institute in Sydney, is organizing a workshop which will take place at the Mount Stromlo Observatory (ACT) on Wednesday, 7 December 2022.
The workshop, which will be chaired by the Scientific Attaché of the Italian Embassy, Dr. Marco Lazzarino and will open with a welcome address by the Italian Ambassador, H.E. Paolo Crudele, will see the participation of several researchers and academics, both from Italy and Australia.
The main topic of discussion will be the SpIRIT project (where SpIRIT stands for Space Industry Responsive Intelligent Thermal),
i.e. a project funded in 2020 by the Australian Space Agency as its first competitively-selected space mission, a project for the design and development of a sophisticated nano-satellite, aimed at advancing current satellite capabilities in the areas of high-performance autonomous operations, communications, propulsion and thermal management. The project is led by the University of Melbourne and Principal Investigator, Professor Michele Trenti, an Italian scientist with a PhD degree from Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, who moved to Melbourne in 2014, after spending several years of his professional career in the USA and in the UK. Professor Trenti will be one of the keynote speakers at the workshop.
SpIRIT, which is expected to be launched into space in 2023, will host as its primary payload the HERMES instrument, an advanced X-ray detector contributed by the Italian Space Agency. The Italian instrument has been developed within the HERMES Technological Pathfinder project, funded by the Italian Space Agency, and the HERMES Scientific Pathfinder project, funded by the European Community under the Horizon 2020 program and coordinated by the Italian National Institute for Astro-Physics (INAF).
SpIRIT will contribute to our understanding of the Universe by investigating Gamma Ray Bursts, powerful cosmic explosions resulting from the death or collision between stars, that for a brief moment emit more energy than a whole galaxy and are thus visible out to the edge of the observable Universe, offering key information on how stars are formed and die at early times, or collide relatively close to us.
Free entry. Booking essential: www.eventbrite.com.au