Spazio 2050 n. 4 - On the Moon to stay by Spazio 2050

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On the Moon to stay

Magazine of the Italian Space Agency | June 2022

50 years after the last Apollo mission, humanity is ready to return

fashion in orbit by

Registration at the Court of Roma 11.2017 of 02.02.2017

Newspaper

TheSpacesuitsHi-Tech Valeria Guarnieri

Design Paola Gaviraghi

Artemis 3,2,1 Go! by Giulia Bonelli on the Moon

28Technology

The last time on the Moon

How we will live on the Moon by Fulvia Croci

Printed by Peristegraf srl Via Giacomo Peroni 130, Roma

Space curiosities by Barbara Ranghelli In 46vetrina

4 Moon

Lunar psychology by Giulia Bonelli and Giuseppe Nucera

Living

SUMMARY

Technology transfer A bridge between Earth and space by Manuela Proietti

Managing director Gianni Cipriani

History of the conquestof the Moon

The Apollo 17 mission and its protagonists by Paolo D’Angelo

41 aEarth-Moon:dualplanet

Media outlet of the Globalist group

explorationCosmic by Giovanni Caprara

Insert of Global Science

ISSUE NUMBER 4, JUNE 2022

Zoom on the small and

Qascom brings Galileo and Italy to the Moon by Silvia Ciccarelli

Lunar science by Ettore Perozzi

Editorial coordination Manuela Proietti, ASI Multimedia Unit

of the Italian Space Agency

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Going to the Moon

PhoeniX: it’s time to rise again by Giulio Chimienti

32enterprisesmedium-sized

Technical tests for a space outpost by the ASI’s editorial staf

Planet Giuseppe Nucera

In the cover, the concept of a lunar outpost.Credits: ESA - P. Carril.

Curated by ASI Multimedia Unit Head of Unit: Giuseppina Pulcrano

GiorgiomissionSaccoccia and Massimo Claudio Comparini draw the upcoming scenarios by Mila Fiordalisi

you go, food you fnd by

Italian Moon - infographic by Manuela Proietti

Italy plays a prominent role in the Artemis program, but it’s all still out there to play for. What are our country’s goals? What opportunities are opening for our economy? And what will be the impacts at an industrial level? The Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the companies in the industry play a key role, starting from Thales Alenia Space – whose 67% is owned by Thales and 33% is owned by Leonardo -, which has curated for the European Space Agency (ESA) the structure and critical subsystems of the Orion spacecraft’s service module, the development of the Gateway’s European modules and works with the United States to manufacture the Halo habitation module.

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In a vis-à-vis confrontation, the ASI president, Giorgio Saccoccia, and the CEO of Thales Alenia Space Italia, Massimo Claudio Comparini, draw the upcoming scenarios.

The

The countdown has started. The Artemis program, which aims at returning humans to the Moon, has ofﬁcially begun. Exactly three years after the announ cements – it was March 2019 when the then administrator of the NASA, Jim Bridenstine, launched the new project -, in the middle of this past month of March, the colossal Space Launch System was placed at the Kennedy Space Center, with the Orion spacecraft atop, for the big dress rehearsal. A test which warms up the engines of the Artemis era: the ﬁrst mission in lunar orbit, which will last between 25 and 42 days, will in all likelihood start by the summer.

Saccoccia: There is no signal of alarms as regards the Artemis program, for more than a reason. First: Russia did not adhere to the project and ne ver expressed its willingness to do so over the years. Second: the recently approved NASA budget allows complete coverage vs the current requests of the lunar program and, not least, the NASA has clearly outlined the

MTHETGOINGOOON

The confict between Russia and Ukraine will have an impact on the geopolitics of Space. Starting from here is inevitable, considering the critical historic moment. May there be consequences for the Artemis mission? What air are we breathing?

Comparini.MassimoAleniaand(pictureGiorgiothebetweenconfrontationASIpresidentSaccocciaabove)theCEOofThalesSpaceItalia,Claudio

by Mila Fiordalisi Director of Spaceconomy360 (www.spaceconomy360.it)

MissionMoon

engineersSpacesuit inside a mockup of the Orion spacecraft, at Johnson Space Credits:Center. NASA/ Robert Markowitz

next steps and also an acceleration of the initiatives when they summo ned the potential partners. As regards Italy, in the past year and a half, we’ve been discussing a few projects with the NASA in the feld of bilateral cooperation, we are on the home straight for the next fnalizations.

Comparini: There’s defnitely a great focus on the evolution of the con fict and, at the same time, a deep regret, considering that international cooperation has a long history of over 30 years. The Artemis project won’t be impacted, whereas there may be a few issues as regards the Interna tional Space Station, but we must also say that the domain of Space is experiencing a phase of great ferment and excitement as never before, with growing challenges which see more and more national agencies and also private stakeholders involved. We look at the future with optimism and positivity.

In perspective, to what extent can the role of Italy increase in the inter national scene of the Space economy, in the wake of the driving force exerted by Artemis?

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To what extent can the Artemis program contribute to the growth of the Italian ecosystem of the Space economy, in terms of the birth of new companies and the development of innovative services?

Comparini: The perspectives are more than interesting. The respect and high appreciation of Italy’s technological capabilities showed by the NASA are factual data. We can count on a consolidated substrate which, alone, represents a key business card in a new stage where our know-how, both technological and institutional, will obtain important results. To be the manufacturers of a frst surface module is important, and represents a key element in the feld of the new scientifc experiments: we obtained this result thanks to a complete ecosystem.

There will be a spacetowardsfromknow-how,ideasoftransfertechnologies,andandthesector.

Saccoccia: A wide-ranging lunar program, such as Artemis, will have an impact which will go far beyond the scientifc returns and those related to the aspects of exploration. It’s not a “simple” mission, but a program with a complex architecture, which will allow to develop high-profle skills from a technological and systemic perspective. The building blocks which will form the architecture of Artemis involve technologies that af fect several sectors. To make an example: beyond the areas where Italy already boasts an unquestioned leadership position, we aim at playing an important role in the sector of communications and satellite navigation. And we might have a prominent role also in the development of innovative services, as well as in a strictly technological feld. We’re writing only the frst page of a complex book, which is full of opportunities, therefore it’s important to be protagonists from now on.

Saccoccia: For the companies in the industry, which already have a re cognized role at the international level, opportunities for further growth and positioning, also from a commercial perspective. Italy can boast a complete supply chain, from big companies to start-up companies, in all felds of space economy, therefore downstream, midstream and upstre am, up to launch vehicles. A 360-degree coverage which, if you allow me to say it, is unique worldwide. We expect that also those companies whi ch, as of today, are not really important in the space sector will have the opportunity to increase their participation and involvement. For them, the Artemis program can be an entry point. Think, for example, of the activities related with the use of lunar resources and, subsequently, to the opportunities arising for companies which operate in the sector of mi ning and recycling of land resources. There will be a transfer of techno logies, ideas and know-how, from and towards the space sector. Further more, we shouldn’t forget that the program will entail an evolution also from a regulatory point of view, and ad-hoc provisions and measures will be needed. These will also be aimed at expanding market development

just think of the Moonlight initiative. In the lunar en vironment, a further challenge is added: understan ding how to take advantage of resources to work on the sustainability of our planet. Furthermore, it’s very important to understand the role of the Italian small and medium-sized enterprises: the pressurized mo dules which, as of today, are used for the ISS and will be used on the Moon and commercial stations, have a level of Italian technology of over 80%. Over the years, we built a supply chain of small and medium-sized enterprises which specialize in mechanical, structu ral and electronic components, thanks to which Italy is unique at a global level and has a signifcant impact, both economic and in terms of our country’s indu strial system.

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The convergence between space and digital techno logies is becoming increasingly closer: how is the scenario Saccoccia:evolving?

As I said, we’re just starting, everything

and allowing an increasingly growing number of sta keholders to enter the feld: we will need also this type of expertise, as well as several others.

Space/Briot).ThalesinmanufacturedthethelunarGatewayofrepresentationArtistictheLunarinorbit.Inforeground,modulesItaly.(Credits:Alenia

Comparini: We are in the best context for the growth of innovative companies, to make them develop and also to show how the critical mass, represented by the presence of large companies in the national territory, is a driving force for the entire chain. It’s a systemic challenge, by which we will be enriched, at all levels. Lunar economy will develop temporally and seam lessly, immediately after the LEO economy, i.e. the Low-Earth Orbit Economy: in the last 20 years, we le arnt how to experiment and work aboard the ISS. If we look at the next 10 years, several sectors will be invol ved in the game: we will need to work on the develop ment of new materials. For example, 3D printing will play a growing role, in order to build infrastructures directly on-site, and we expect developments in the biotechnological, pharmaceutical and food sectors, not to mention telecommunications and connectivity:

Comparini: The combination between Space and digital will be disrup tive and will create new opportunities, both at an upstream level and as regards the related services. Already today, with the digital twin, we can conduct virtual simulations, and this is a turning point if we think that, until a few years ago, we needed physical prototypes. Therefore, the revo lution of convergence is already in place. Everything we will do in the low orbit and on the Moon will generate huge amounts of data from which we will have to extract information: the cloud platforms for the analysis of big data will become essential also, and especially, for on-site operations, for example through the presence of data centers on the Moon. And ar tifcial intelligence is also set to evolve: the exploration of the Moon, and more in general of planets, will entail a close man-machine cooperation, with the big topic of ethic that will have to be dealt with also from a re gulatory point of view.

Comparini: As a knock-on efect of space programs, we’ve already seen frst-hand an important growth in terms of employment in the whole supply chain. This trend will defnitely grow.

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is in the making, and the speed at which the solutions resulting from digitalization – primarily artifcial intelligence and big data analysis –are making their way in the space sector is the unequivocal sign of de velopments which, as of today, are unprecedented and unimaginable. Artemis is an initiative that we may defne as “open-ended”: the growth will be continuous, without a time limit, and therefore we will be able to progressively bring on board the progress generated by digitalization. Moreover, Space has always been the environment where you can test cutting-edge innovation, everything which is related to Space is linked to a huge amount of data to be managed and transferred: that’s why we have very high expectations on this front. Furthermore, in the initial part of the program, the strong robotic presence that will precede human lan ding and accompany it afterwards will need automated systems, which can be managed remotely or independently, and therefore a high use of data processing technologies and artifcial intelligence. In short, it will be an important testing ground.

Saccoccia: We are certain that Space is a driving force for employment and economy: it’s no coincidence that we have put in place signifcant resources, both in the feld of the PNRR (Recovery and Resilience Plan) for new space initiatives and in the already existing national programs. Investing in the Artemis program – which will continue for a long time –will not only ofer the opportunity to create new occupation, but also to make it sustainable in time. We expect a long, very long wave, through the creation of opportunities that will involve, in particular, new generations and will subsequently trigger a virtuous circle in terms of employment. Moreover, Italy can boast an excellent training capacity, recognized at a global level, and continues to invest in order to grow it further. As a Space Agency, we are very committed on this front, so that the research carried out in the academic feld, for example, can be supported with growing resources, ideas and projects which are capable of best addressing the renewed needs, with a training aimed at generating skills which can be immediately marketable.

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Will Artemis be able to get the mechanism of employment going at a national level? Will new skills and, subsequently, new jobs related to the mission be created?

The Artemis program will re present for Italy an important booster in terms of growth of the national space economy and development of the ecosystem. And Thales Alenia Space – a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%) – is pushing the accelerator on the invest ments in innovation. «The results that we are obtaining today are the product of the investmen ts we’ve made over the years. And from now on, we will put other investments in place. We want to be ready for the future technology roadmaps and get immediately on the train of the next waves of innovation» stres ses Massimo Claudio Comparini, CEO of Thales Alenia Space Italia. Artemis is a very long-term pro gram, but according to Compa rini «the acceleration triggered on the front of planning will translate into returns already in the next 4-5 years, thanks to the effect of the virtuous circle». Thales Alenia Space is already imagining new business oppor tunities related to lunar explo ration: «With the development of lunar economy, the game of pressurized modules begins and we want to be protagonists», announces the manager. And for Italy, the opportunities are linked also to the funds provided by the PNRR: «We aim at stimulating research activity and the syner gy with the world of industry will be essential». However, the main issue will be execution. «We need to start with operatio nal projects as soon as possible, I hope we can start this year already». And then we will need to push on new skills: «It’s a challenge that we can’t fail. Italy has all it takes to play this game as a protagonist: we cover the whole value chain – from access to space and infrastructures to the provision of products and services. Only a few countries in the world can boast such an ecosystem. Our universities create highly-qualifed skills and we need to put all of them in place». The role of small and medium-sized enterprises will be also essential: «We need to push towards the creation and development of innovative SMEs, we are slightly delayed on this front but we have in our DNA the characteristics to reco ver. The economic and fnancial community is looking with great interest at start-ups in the feld of space and we need to attract investments».

An Credits:theofreproductionartisticOrionaboveEarth.ESA.

In our Thales Alenia space factory, in Turin, we’ve hired a hundred engi neers and we expect to add new skills. Companies will increasingly need digital experts and it’s essential to accompany the birth of new training paths with skills on the front of structural mechanics, but also digital processing. And also persons who haven’t been directly involved until to day, such as architects for the design of space houses, will jump aboard.

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The ASI and Artemis

«We expect to fnalize an imple mentation agreement with the NASA to strengthen the com mitment of Italy in the feld of the Artemis program, through a direct partnership with the Uni ted States»: this is the announ cement from the President of the Italian Space Agency, Giorgio Saccoccia. «I’ll meet soon with the head of the Artemis program at the NASA to discuss the road map. After the summer, I wish we’ll already be able to begin with the contractual obligations that will be developed in the coming years, with the purpose of having Italian projects on the Moon’s surface starting from Therefore,2026-2027»the ASI continues to push the accelerator on the initiatives related to the mission and also aims at opening new fronts. «At the ASI ministerial conference, scheduled for November, we will discuss any other European contributions and we aim at strengthening the role of Italy» adds Saccoc cia, as he points out that our country has been a pioneer in the program. The goals for the coming years are upward: «We are strong in the feld of robotics and we have important chances of development in the feld of advanced sensors, radar techno logies and in-orbit inspection». Saccoccia turns the spotlight on also on the importance of public funds: «We had a signifcant increase in the last two-three years. Space is recognized as an engine of economic growth and one of the key sectors for the post-COVID recovery. We have resources available which have more than doubled compared to a few years ago and it’s essen tial to use them at best». The axis between the public and the private sector will be key, but a solution must be worked out. «It’s essential to provide technical support to those who manage investment funds or private resources for a technical and substantial assessment. We must do that in order to avoid parallel and nonaligned “tracks” vs the country’s need in terms of industrial development.» Last but not least, the growth of the competition triggered by the so-called big techs, with the owners of Amazon and SpaceX, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, taking the lion’s share. «We are appro aching a paradigm shift and this will entail, for many, the rethin king of business models. The new stakeholders are welcome, since they provide a stimulus for growth and innovation and create new opportunities».

A A by Manuela Proietti

First manned ﬂight. The mission involves ﬂying over the Moon and a crew made up of 4 astronauts.

ORION’S EUROPEAN SERVICE MODULE

1 2 4

ITALIAN MOON

First mission of the new NASA’s lunar program. It’s the test ﬂight of the Space Launch System launcher and the Orion vehicle in the lunar environment.

Artemis III Touchdown!(2025)Firsthuman mission on the lunar soil, more than 50 years after the Apollo 17. It will see the landing of the ﬁrst woman and a man with SpaceX’s Starship HLS lander and a 6.5-day-stay on the Moon’s surface.

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The following elements are manufactu red in Italy: the thermal control and storage system of the consumables, the control and power distribution unit, the photovoltaic panels and the protection system against meteorites and debris.

Through Thales Alenia Space and other small and medium-sized enterprises, Italy has developed for the ESA some key elements of the European Service Module, the service module of the NASA’s Orion capsule, which will bring the astronauts to the Moon.

The Italian Space Agency is working with the NASA on the development of a stable pressurized module on the Moon’s surface, with the possibility to host astronauts and scientiﬁc experimentation laboratories.

Artemis II (2024)

THE MISSIONS

THE NAVIGATION

The ASI’s Lunar Surface Multi-Purpose Habitation (MPH) Module(s) (2026-2027)

GLOBALSCIENCE.IT2050

Artemis I (2022)

It’s the module which will host the ﬁrst astronauts visiting the Gateway. Its main purpose is to provide a livable environment from which crews can explore the Moon’s surface. The design and development of the module’s primary structure, the pressure control system and the vestibule,

ANDTELECOMMUNICATIONSNAVIGATION

THE ITALIAN MODULE

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Esprit - European System Providing Refueling, Infrastructure and Telecommunications (2024 and 2027)

Halo – Habitation and Logistics Outpost (2024) – NASA’s module

BC D Infograﬁca Infolab

The ASI’s Lunar Surface Multi-Purpose Habitation (MPH) Module(s) (2026-2027)

AMoonlightconsortium of Italian companies, guided by Telespazio, takes part in the ESA’s Moonlight project. The system will be aimed at ensuring services to the different platforms, such as rovers, landers or lunar bases, in orbit or on the Moon’s surface. The infrastructure will be made up of lunar and ground stations and a network of satellites; the Fucino Space Centre will have a connection and coordination role.

I-Hab - International Habitation Module (2026)

THE EUROPEAN MODULES

It’s the main module manufactured by Europe. It will provide housing for the crew, but will also serve as a docking point which will offer interfaces and resources to the vehicles in transit towards the Moon. Thales Alenia Space, in Italy, has the overall responsibility of the project.

It will consist of two main elements: a communication module and a refueling module, combined with a pressurized corridor equipped with windows, which will be provided by Italy. The wide portholes will offer a 360-degree view on the external space, the Moon, the Earth and the Gateway.

part of the protection system against meteorites and the interface with the NASA docking systems are manufactured in Turin, on behalf of Grumman.Northrop D B

The station in lunar orbit is a key element of the Artemis program. It will serve as a base for the operations on the Moon’s surface.

THE LUNAR GATEWAY

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«We already went to the Moon, over 50 years ago, then why is it so difcult to go back there?» It’s a question that is often heard when talking about the return to our satellite. The answer is a refection of the com plexity of a space exploration program which, actual ly, doesn’t have much to do with the successes of the past. Therefore, let’s have a look at all the main ele ments of the Artemis program, which aims at making the Moon the next outpost of humanity. And there’s a lot of Italy in this undertaking.

by Giulia Bonelli

GLOBALSCIENCE.IT The main stages of ourtoprogramtheArtemis,international(re)conquersatellite

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3,Artemis2,1,Go!

Back to the future Apollo 17 departed in 1972. It was the eleventh man ned mission of the NASA lunar program. It was also the last: from then on, no man has ever set foot on our satellite again. Today, the Moon is again at the core of space exploration, but above all it’s a return to the future. The new Artemis program is profoundly dif ferent from its predecessor Apollo, for at least three reasons. First of all, it’s an international undertaking. If the frst Moon landing was the adventure of a single superpower, the return to the Moon involves a close partnership between nations. United States remain the driving force, but the con tribution from partner countries (including Italy) is essential. The second element of diferentiation lies in the new role of private space companies, with Spa ceX in the foreground, which will provide technology to make human presence sustainable on our satelli te. This leads us to what is perhaps the most crucial aspect: the Artemis program aims at bringing the frst woman and the frst man to the Moon with the ambition to remain. No more lightning strikes, but a tight schedule which, on the long term, should make our satellite inhabited throughout the year. It’s exactly the same principle which guided the International Space Station’s under taking: with Artemis, from the low orbit we will swi tch to make the cislunar orbit and the Moon’s surface constantly inhabited.

An ambitious program like Artemis needed a likewise powerful rocket. That’s why the NASA has developed Sls, an acronym for Space Launch System: a 98-metre high colossus, capable of carrying a load of 130 tons. Not only the crew, then, but everything we will need to equip the cislunar orbit and our satellite’s surface and make them habitable. The aspect of Sls slightly reminds us of its predecessor Saturn V, the launch vehicle which ensured the success of the Apollo lu nar missions. But from a technological point of view, the Space Launch System is more similar to the Space Shuttle, the likewise historical NASA launch system which was retired in 2001. Same as the Shuttle, the Sls uses two additional boosters with solid-propellant motors, as well as four RS-25 motors.

Space Launch SyStem

SPAZIOWWW.ASI.IT2050|13With capabilities,powerunprecedenteditsandthe space Launch system (SLS) is the only rocket that can send Orion Fotosinglethecargoastronauts,spacecraft,anddirectlytoMoononamission.Esa.

Lunar Gateway

Star Ship

Such characteristics make the Space Launch System the most powerful launch system ever built in the world.

The colossal launch system developed by the NASA and its international partners is powerful enough to carry the crew and the equipment to the Moon and, one day, to Mars, but it’s not suitable for the descent to our satellite, whereas SpaceX’s Starship can do that. The Starship system is made up of the namesake shuttle, used to carry astronauts up and down from the Moon (and, one day, from Mars), and the Super Heavy rocket. The key words are reusability and spe ed, two elements which, in Elon Musk’s projects, will make space trips economically sustainable. In fact, SpaceX is betting on its proven launch system, whi ch can be reused for heavy loads and allows a high number of launches in a short time, with a signifcant reduction of costs. According to the plans, the future crews will reach the lunar orbit with Orion, whereas they will descent to our satellite’s surface with Star ship, going from the future space station in cislunar orbit.

Lunar Gateway will be the frst station orbiting around the Moon. It will be made up of 7 modules, as well as a robotic arm provided by Canada, for a to tal weight of the entire structure of nearly 40 tons. Drawing inspiration from the ISS, the Gateway will be the “home” of the astronauts travelling towards our

orion

The spacecraftOrion has the sizes of a small house and can host up to six Picturepersons.by the ESA.

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GLOBALSCIENCE.IT2050

The cutting edge of the Space Launch System is the shuttle, designed to transport the crew. Its name is Orion, has the sizes of a small house and can host up to six astronauts. The NASA entrusted the company Lockheed Martin with the task of building the hou sing module, whereas the European Space Agency, with a signifcant contribution from Italy, is in char ge of the service module, called Esm (from Europe an Service Module, precisely). It’s a key component of the shuttle, which will provide to the crew all the vital elements to stay in Orion’s living module: wa ter, air, propulsion, electricity, thermoregulation. The Esm extends for a diameter and a height of 4 meters, and is equipped with 4 solar panels which are 19 me ters wide and are designed to generate an amount of energy which corresponds to that needed to feed two housings. The living module and the service module constitute the “two foors” of the spaceship that will bring the astronauts to the Moon.

www.asitv.it

The mission also involves the release of 10 NASA.PictureArtemisfewwillItalianinSpaceNASA’slaunchpreparedArgoMoonthethoseprojecttheItalianincludingCubeSats,theArgoMoon,onlyEuropeanamongselectedbyNASA.isfortheattheKennedyCenterFlorida.TheCubeSatdocumentastagesoftheImission.bythe

It’s the Artemis I mission (previously called Explora tion Mission-1, or EM-1), before the three main stages of the lunar program. Artemis I is an unmanned fight which will test the SLs and Orion, in a shipping which will see a fyby of our satellite.

It will be frst crew to leave the low terrestrial orbit since the already mentioned Apollo 17.

GLOBALSCIENCE.IT2050

a rtemiS i

The mission also involves the release of 10 CubeSats, including the Italian Argo Moon, the only European project among those selected by the NASA. The ofcial confrmation of the launch of Artemis 1 by the sum mer depends on the success of the last test of the Space Launch System, the so-called “wet dress rehearsal”.

a rtemiS ii

If everything will go as planned with Artemis I, it will be followed by Artemis II, Orion’s frst fight with 4 astronauts aboard.

satellite. From here, the crews will be able to reach the Moon’s surface with the Starship shuttle which, on the long term, will be equipped in turn with a permanent Base Camp. But similarly to what happens today with the International Space Station, the Gateway will also be a laboratory to conduct experiments in the absence of gravity.

The lift-of will take place from the NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission will last about 10 days overall. After reaching the lunar orbit, Orion will make a fy-by at about 7.500 kilometers away from our satellite’s surface.

Artemis’s roadmap has been amended several times over the last few years. If Trump administration had bet on the return of man to the Moon by 2024 (which had already been regarded as unrealistic by several people), now the NASA is more cautious, to the point that there aren’t any ofcial launch dates beyond the opening fight, which is currently scheduled for sum mer 2022.

For its return, the shuttle will take advantage of the Earth-Moon gravitational orbit, which will pull it back towards our planet. The mission will end with a spla shdown in the Pacifc

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But even before being at the forefront in the return of man to our satellite, Italy will have a privileged eye

Artemis III will be in charge of the Moon landing. The NASA hasn’t yet unveiled the details of the mission, but as of today we know that 4 astronauts will take part in the second fight with Orion’s crew, and two of them (including the frst woman) will reach the Mo on’s surface.

i ta L ian moon

a rtemiS iii

Also the development of an innovative tool comes from our country: it will help with the positioning of the future lunar probes and the Lunar Gateway it self. It’s Lugre (Lunar Gnss Receiver Experiment), the Gnss receiver developed by the Italian Space Agency in partnership with the NASA. Italy is also fnancing the planning of the Multi-Purpose module, a pressurized structure that may evolve into a sort of “lift” from the Gateway to the lunar Base Camp.

The Moon landing will take place in the southern po lar region and involves a stay on the Moon of about one week. The two astronauts will perform some spa cewalks on the lunar soil and will conduct a few ob servations and samplings

The mounting of the tanks in the second European service module will energy,providewater, air and electricity to the Orion module.

There is a lot of Italy in the new lunar exploration pro gram. At the end of 2020, our country was one of the 8 signatories of the Artemis Accords, the frst interna tional cooperation agreement for a pacifc return to the Moon. And there are several scientifc and techno logical contributions from Italy. For the NASA, the Eu ropean Space Agency is the most important partner as regards the manufacturing of the Gateway, and the Italian contribution to the lunar station is the main one in Europe. Thales Alenia Space has signed a con tract with the U.S. company Northrop Grumman to manufacture the primary structure of the Gateway’s Halo module in its premises in Turin. And the ESA has entrusted the same company with the task of deve loping the I-Hab and Esprit components. Then there is also the ambitious MoonLIGHT project by the Eu ropean Space Agency, which aims at creating lunar communication and navigation services: Thales Ale nia Space Italia, along with Telespazio, is working on a feasibility study to develop the future Earth – Moon communication system, which will be crucial for the whole Artemis program.

Picture by the ESA.

on the opening of the new lunar program. ArgoMoon, the CubeSat developed in Turin by the company Ar gotec, by mandate of the Italian Space Agency, will be the frst one to dive into space during the unmanned mission Artemis I and will document the detachment of Orion from the rocket. With this stage, the count down will ofcially start to see the frst man and the frst woman on the Moon.

MOLIVINGNTHEOON psychologyLunar

by Giulia Bonelli and Giuseppe Nucera

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The future long-term missions on the Moon have in tensifed the studies here on Earth to better under stand the consequences on the body of the prolonged stay in space. From the muscular to the nervous sy stem, from bones to cells: the absence of gravity has an impact on the astronauts’ health at several levels, and there’s already ample evidence of it thanks to se veral experiments on the International Space Station. This is why, in view of long-term settlements on our satellite, it’s important to prevent as much as possible the harmful efects of space radiations on our body.

The land.ofthegation,full61livedvoluntarilydulelunarofarchitectstwothemohavefordays,insegre-innorthGreen-

Details of the Pictureinteriorsby Saga Space Architects.

And what about the mind? We might hear less about it, but the mental health of the future Moon colonists is as important as their physical health, and there’s so meone who’s been taking care of it for a long time, in the context of what is defned as space psychology: a branch of psychology which, indeed, investigates the consequences of space journeys and the cosmic envi ronment on the human mind.

From the Lunark experiment, explains the resear cher, emerges the key role of the context of a space mission, which turns out to have a protective role, since it has a certain end date and the staf is stron gly motivated. However, the strong reduction of so cial interactions remains as a risk factor. «Our study – says Riva – shows that the state of resignation, with which we summarize the deepest negative conse quences of social isolation, manifests a carry-over efect, that is a carry-over of consequences from one day to another. At the same time, the desire for social contacts grows quite linearly in the experience of the two volunteers».

The pandemic has given us an idea of what social iso lation means, also and especially at the psychological level. Just imagine transferring this experience to an extreme place, such as the Moon, with limited possibi lities to communicate with Earth and environmental factors which, in themselves, are hostile. In order to study and, above all, prevent the consequences of this “lunar isolation”, the only way at the moment is the word of simulation, through the so-called terrestrial analogue sites. Since we are not able (yet) to monitor fesh-and-blood Moon colonists, space psychologists rely on experiments conducted on our planet, which simulate the extreme conditions of our satellite and, in general, of space.

It’s the case of a recent research carried out by a team of psychologists from the University of Milano-Bi cocca, the University of Messina and the University of Surrey, based on the results of the Lunark project: the frst simulation of a lunar mission conducted in the Arctic. Lunark developed a hermetic capsule which is similar to a lunar habitat. The two architects of the same structure have voluntarily lived for 61 days, in full segregation, in the north of Greenland. It was an opportunity to study the psychological impact of pro longed social isolation in extreme environments.

«Our theoretical models – explains Paolo Riva, social psychologist from the University of Milano-Bicoc ca and study lead – predict an association between prolonged isolation experiences and a set of negative psychological states, such as depression, increase in anxiety, sense of alienation. However, this is ofset by the awareness of a certain end date of the experience and the strong motivation which manifests itself in the context of a space mission».

The capsule of the Lunark project, which hosts the frst simulation of a lunar mission.

But how can the future Moon colonists counteract the possible harmful efects of groupthink? Also in this case, preparation is key: you need to work on the group before fying to space, as it already happens, after all, for the crews headed to the International Space Station. And in this regard, psychologists play a key role in the long training that astronauts must undergo, both singularly and at group level. Also du ring the mission, space psychology can help to develop strategies to preserve the crew’s mental health.

That’s how space psychology is increasingly ente ring all the stages of human exploration of space. And perhaps one day, in permanent lunar bases, we will also fnd mental health professionals among the futu re space workers.

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«Physical exercise, time of dedicated to activities whi ch are not strictly related to the mission, interaction between the crew members, including the emotional sharing and discussion on personal topics: all of these activities are associated with a better mental health», concludes

as Lunark, or other experiments conducted in the past in extreme terrestrial envi ronments (for example Amadee-18, which simulated a Martian mission in the desert of Oman), are particu larly valuable as they collect experimental data which are complementary to those provided by literature. And the theories of classic psychology fnd an inte

Therefore, for the future inhabitants of the Moon it will be essential to be prepared also as regards the psychological aspects of long-term lunar stays. These missions will also have to involve a program for the safeguard of mental health.

«Some dynamics which have been studied for years from social psychology, as well as some specifc group interactions – says Rusconi – can emerge also during space missions. A phenomenon which has been very well investigated from this point of view is the group think, which happens in highly cohesive groups. This dynamic doesn’t leave space to expressions of disa greement or individual points of view, but leads to a stereotyped thinking which, however, entails a redu ced group performance in moments of crisis».

resting test bench in the feld of space psychology, as explains Patrice Rusconi from the University of Mes sina, co-author of the study published on the basis of the observations from the Lunark project.

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«In our study – explains Rusconi – we suggested, for example, to use gamifcation, that is the possibility to add elements which are typically related to games also during a few business activities over the course of the mission. This may activate useful psychological levers of human beings, such as cooperation, but also com petition, by incentivizing a most efective interaction between the crew members. Because of this, the use of games to design the machine-man interface for futu re lunar missions may have a good impact on mental health, by improving also group dynamics».

SPAZIO 2050 | WWW.ASI.IT21

GLOBALSCIENCE.IT The explorersfuturewill be space vegetarian.willastronauts,beforefarmers,beinganddeﬁnitelybe

With this approach, the primary need will be ofering some fresh food to those astronauts who participate in remote missions: in fact, this would provide a better food and protein intake, since it contains more mine ral salts and vitamins than freeze-dried foods, which have been more commonly used so far. In the case of fresh vegetables, we’re also aware of their ability to reduce the risk of diseases associated with the hostile conditions of the space environment. Therefore, scientifc research aims at developing systems to support the future ability to produce fresh food on-site, given the problems related to the transport and storage of huge amounts of terrestrial food.

First of all, the problem arises of what food will be eaten by crew mem bers during interplanetary journeys and by members of extraterrestrial colonies. In fact, the survival of those astronauts who will go much fur ther than the low terrestrial orbit will depend on the ability to produce and recycle, directly on-site, primary resources such as water and food, disengaging as much as possible from supplies from Earth, which are complicated for the next lunar settlements and practically impossible for the future Martian colonies. The future space cooking can, therefore, be summarized in two concepts: circularity and self-sufciency.

From this point, the projects aimed at the development of the so-called biogenerative systems for life support: closed and fully self-healing sy stems, where the available resources recycle continuously without run ning out, producing the primary goods for human survival in space. These complex artifcial ecosystems, which are essentially based on bio logical elements such as plants, algae, fungi and microorganisms, are able to generate oxygen, drinking water and edible biomass, such as sa lads and microgreens.

The future human explorations in deep space, whose primary destina tions are the Moon and Mars, see big technological changes ahead of them, also as regards the aspects related to the astronauts’ daily life, which aren’t trivial at all.

by Giuseppe Nucera

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Within this European project, in the Portici laboratories in Naples, the Plant Characterization Unit (PCU) has been developed. It’s a modern growth chamber which consists of a hydroponic cultivation plant, that is in the absence of a culture medium, within a sealed environment. Such plant has been built thanks to the PaCMan research project, coordinated by Enginsof and funded by the European Space Agency.

«The challenge is producing food in short times, reduced space and through cultivation techniques which allow the growth of plants in mi crogravity», says Stefania De Pascale from the Department of Agricultu ral Sciences at the University of Naples Federico II.

«Thanks to an artifcial light system and the ability to recover the water transpired by plants, which in fact is drinkable, we’re able to verify the attitude of higher plants to generate resources in response to environ mental changes and, subsequently, detect the most suitable cultivations for the future biogenerative systems for space», says Stefania De Pascale, head of the Laboratory for research on plants for Space where the PCU growth chamber is located.

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These systems are at the center of the ESA’s Melissa program, a consor tium which includes universities, research centers and small and me dium-sized enterprises.

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Instead, the food needs of the next extraterrestrial colonies, where plants will have to regenerate the resources needed for the mission and produce basic food for colonies, are very diferent. It’s a type of co oking which will necessarily have to use only resour ces available on-site.

All the terrestrial projects share a unique certainty: the future menu to be eaten in deep space will ne cessarily be vegetarian, and will be the result of the astronauts’ work during the mission.

Italian dish for the astronaut Paolo Nespoli aboard the

ESA.PicturespaceGrowingSpaceInternationalStation.plantsinispossible.bythe

small vegetables with very short cycles of growth, no longer than two weeks, whose main function is providing a supplement of fresh food which can be integrated with the food which can be transported from Earth», continues De Pascale.

These are the conditions required to the technologies developed within the ReBUS project, coordinated and funded by the ASI and in which several Italian bodies and university participate. Stefania De Pascale is the principal investigator of the project, which aims at producing plants by taking advantage of the lunar and Martian soils, that is regolith: the group of sand silts on the surface of rocky planets.

«The future explorers will be space farmers, before being astronauts, and will defnitely be vegetarian, because plants will arrive way sooner than animals for the nutrition of the next space colonies» concludes De Pascale.

«Starting from the basis of human nutrition on our planet, we are focusing on cultivations which are ca pable of producing energy-rich food: cereals, wheat, soft and hard wheat, but also rice and potatoes, as well as legumes, obviously, which can integrate our diet with several proteins».

Therefore, the scientifc research on future space food is diversifed based on the diferent environmental conditions and available resources of the place where the space dish will be served.

In the case of astronauts travelling from Earth, whi ch will be able to bring with them a certain amount of terrestrial food, the fresh food produced by the systems aboard orbiting spacecrafts or stations will mainly consist of micro-vegetables, in line with the experiments conducted so far on the International Space Station, such as the hydroponic greenhouse Veggie, which has been operating in the terrestrial orbit since 2014. The MicroX2 (Microgreens for Micro gravity), where De Pascale’s team collaborates with the Italian Space Agency, is moving on the same line of «Weresearch.arestudying

Safety and innovative solutions in the astronauts’ wardrobe

SpaceSuitS The hi-Tech fashioninorbit

by Valeria Guarnieri

GLOBALSCIENCE.IT

Safety is an aspect which has a primary importance and, despite the eforts to ensure the maximum pro tection to cosmic explorers, unexpected events can

spaceship – in the most delicate stages of the mis sions, such as journeys from and to the International Space Stations and, in particular, the extravehicular activities where astronauts fnd themselves working in space also for several hours in a row.

Ocss spacesuit: the prototype of the Kowsky.NASA/Joel2019.onArtemisspacesuitseventpresentationduringinheadquarterstakenTheSpaceNASA’sManagerGohmer,byspacesuitOcsswornDustinProjectattheJohnsonCenter.picturewasattheNASAWashington,theofthefortheprogram,October15th,Picture:

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Colored or white, equipped with helmets and tools which are specifcally designed for the activities for which they are intended, and with the common main purpose of protecting those who wear them from a hostile environment: these are the spacesuits, a key ingredient for missions which see human beings in the Theforeground.renewedinterest in the exploration of the Moon with the NASA’s Artemis program, to which the Ita lian Space Agency adhered in 2019, and the subse quent goal of bringing man to Mars have again turned the spotlight on spacesuits. By the way, the context in which these particular garments are developed and manufactured has become especially diverse and competitive: the design of the astronauts’ wardrobe used to be the prerogative of the two nations which were the protagonists of the space race, United Sta tes and Russia, but now other stakeholders have made their debut in the feld of human fight, such as China – which is building its own orbiting station – and the private companies Blue Origin and SpaceX. These garments with a sci-f look, which continue to exert an undoubted fascination on young people and the general public (just think of the wide variety of co stumes, for kids and not only, which draw inspiration from spacesuits and can be easily found online), have experienced a deep technological progress since the frst human fights of the Russian Yuri Gagarin and the American Alan Shepard (which took place, re spectively, on April 12th and May 5th, 1961). However, they’ve never ceased to show their core characteri stic: being a protective coating – almost a sort of small

The xEmu, whose look reminds us of the spacesuits worn by the astronauts of the Apollo missions, has been designed for outings on the lunar soil: therefo re, it will have to resist extreme temperatures which characterize the environment of our natural satelli te, but can be used proftably also for the extravehi cular activities of the Lunar Gateway, the cislunar outpost which supports the Artemis mission.

Kowsky.NASA/Joel2019.onArtemisspacesuitseventpresentationduringinheadquartersWashingtontheofthefortheprogram,October15thPicture:

The famboyant Orion, instead, has been designed mainly as a “travel outft”: its task will be to protect astronauts during the delicate stages of launch and return to Earth, but can also be used inside space ha bitats and in any other emergency situation. Therefore, to respond in an increasingly compliant manner to the dynamics of life in zero gravity, the future “astronaut” fashion will have to combine sty le, technology and ease of use, as well as meeting the essential safety requirements. These characteristics aren’t very far from the “uni versal outft, which clothes the whole body, provides a complete ease of movement and a feeling of energy saving”, that is the suit which was invented in 1919 by the brothers Ernesto and Ruggero Michahelles, eclectic exponents of the Futurist artistic movement known as Thayaht and Ram. The two creatives would defnitely be proud to see that, from the frst fights on, increasingly advanced versions of their outft –which was regarded as a breaking point at the time –had such an important role in accompanying human beings towards the discovery of space.

occur anyway. It’s exactly what happened on July 16th, 2013, to the ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano who, whi le he was engaged in an activity outside the Interna tional Space Station, had to face dramatic moments when the helmet of his outdoor spacesuit started to fll with water due to a faulty valve. This story, which had a happy ending thanks to Parmitano’s professio nalism and inspired the documentary Eva 23, was the

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object of an in-depth investigation by the NASA and subsequently represented a moment of growth and refection to prevent such a dangerous unexpected event from happening again.

But at this stage, and in light of the innovations in technologies and materials and the lessons learned, how will the astronauts’ wardrobe evolve? For exam ple, what will the protagonists of the future Moon landing (currently scheduled for 2025) wear? In fact, the “collection” of spacesuits developed from the fr sts fights on was enriched by two completely new units, which are ready to start with the missions of the Artemis program: the white xEmu (Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit) and the orange Ocss (Orion Crew Survival System). Designed for diferent purposes, the new outfts will have to ensure safety and more ease of movement to the next generations of lunar explorers, since they’ll have more challen ging tasks than the pioneers who preceded them.

«The Moon has returned to be the main target in the feld of space exploration, not only as a step towards Mars, but also as more complex project, which will involve a lunar orbiting station and most likely, in the future, also a permanent settling – says Barbara Negri, head of the Human Flight and Scientifc Expe rimentation Unit of the Italian Space Agency -; the robotic and human exploration of the Moon will be able to test the science and technologies required for a better knowledge of the lunar environment and the long-term operations needed for the missions headed to Mars and the deep space».

Concept of a lunar outpost, made with 3D printing. Picture taken from the ESA website, Group,LiquiferRegoLight,creditsSystems2018.

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The return to the Moon is one of the main goals of space agencies all around the world. This time, unlike what happened in the ‘60s, the reconquest of our sa tellite will no longer be the individual project of one or more superpowers, but will have to be a more com plex operation that will involve public and private sta keholders. Following the return to the Moon’s surface, we will need a few technologies – some of them are under development – which will help human beings to build outposts.

Specifcally, the tools and technologies in the lugga ge of the future colonists will necessarily include the rovers designed for the exploration of the surface and the collection of materials; the artifcial intelligence, which will help to conduct the most complex opera tion remotely and the In-Situ Resource Utilization (Isru), a practice which consists in the use of materials found or manufactured on the Moon, which will re place those that should be brought from Earth.

GLOBALSCIENCE.IT

Telerobotics, artifcial intelligence, life support and In-Situ Resource Utilization are the necessary tools for the future Moon colonization

by Fulvia Croci @asi_spazio

In particular, the interest in the Moon, as a place from which you can extract valuable resources to build outposts, is not new. Already at the time of the Apollo missions, a few studies were started on the research of elements such as helium, iron and water whereas, more recently, the interest has shifted towards de tecting ice deposits and the presence of volatile sub stances. In order to detect the best sites to potentially

extract resources, colonists can rely on artifcial in telligence, which will be able to scan quickly, and in a more efective manner, the lunar morphological characteristics from the already available images col lected by satellites. It’s an approach which may signi fcantly improve efciency, in terms of selecting the sites for the exploration of our satellite.

How

we wIll lIve on tHe Moon

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We’ll just have to wait the next few months for the frst test bench of this new space adventure: the ope ning fight of the Space Launch System, which will bring the Orion capsule, with the Artemis 1 mission, to the lunar orbit. It will be the frst step which will allow man to return to our satellite.

The Moon is particularly suitable to become an expe rimental laboratory where you will be able to live and prepare missions for the colonization of Mars and the exploration of the most remote areas of the solar sy stem. From this perspective, the Italian Space Agency will start in the next few months several activities ai med at using, enhancing and increasing the scientifc and technological skills acquired by Italy in this feld.

the Moon

astronauts in orbit, so that the latter can conduct operations on the planetary surfaces.

This innovative technique was tested by the ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano in 2019, during the Beyond mission. Parmitano controlled from the ISS the mo vements of the Earth-based Analog-1 rover, which was located at a hangar in Valkenburg, Netherlands. The test confrmed that this technology can allow high-precision operations, such as the sampling of rocks in absence of gravity. In fact, the performance of such delicate tasks requires a careful supervision by astronauts during the whole operation.

In detail, some of the selected areas of interest involve the study of the lunar environment; the observation of the universe from the Moon; the sustainability of settlements; the required technologies and tools; the radioprotection for astronauts and materials and the human physiology laboratories and studies in extra terrestrial environments.

Also the European Space Agency is conducting seve ral studies on the planning of robots and rovers whi ch will plow the Moon’s soil. One of the most recent studies is a project regarding the control of rovers by

is oflonizationformissionspreparelivebeyouwherelaboratoryrimentalanbecometablesui-toexpe-willabletoandtheco-Mars.

could be extremely useful for astronauts on a space mission and for the miniaturization of the imaging tools of space probes. But the time wasn’t ripe yet to transform such extraordinary intuition into reality. Thirty years later, Eric Fossum, again from the JPL, was the right man at the right time. The NASA needed to reduce as much as possible the sizes aboard inter planetary missions. Therefore, Fossum developed an image sensor based on metal-oxide-semiconductor devices, the Cmos-Aps active-pixel sensor, capable of combining reduced sizes and a very high quality of shooting. It’s the compact and inexpensive alternati ve to the Ccd, which, in the meanwhile, had marked the beginning of the digital market. Fossum couldn’t imagine that the Cmos would become the most wide spread invention ever by the NASA, which would not only revolutionize the world of space imaging but also become an element of global consumption, initially in the sector of refex cameras and high-resolution di gital cameras, then dominating, without rivals, the market of smartphones.

We are in the ‘60s. We are in the middle of the spa ce race and in the rooms of the NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, an engineer named Eugene Lally describes for the frst time the use of mosaic sensors to convert light into electric pulse and produ ce digital images. Lally thought that such technology

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GLOBALSCIENCE.IT

TechnologyTransfer

NTECHOLOGY

by Manuela Proietti

A betweenbridgeeArthAndSpAce

Sport in the absence of gravity becomes possible thanks to the “Use and gesture design”, a study which will allow astronauts to perform acrobatic movements in the absence of weight.

Today, we all have such space technology in our pockets. It allows us to shoot videos which, a few se conds later, we post on Instagram or TikTok or to flm ourselves in 8k with an action camera, while we perform extreme sports. Although we are now used to consider space as something which is closer and closer to us – we know our position in real time and we are constantly updated on the weather forecasts thanks to satellites – the technologies transferred from space to Earth permeate our houses and cities, and often we don’t realize it.

The NASA calls them “spin-ofs” and has gathered them in a place where you can get lost: over 2.000 inventions which, from Space, have been applied on Earth since 1976.

The result is the BioSuit, a spacesuit prototype whi ch, by taking advantage of the so-called non-exten sion lines, uses a mechanical, rather than pneumatic, pressurization, ofering a wide freedom of movement to those who wear it and ensuring high standards of movement at the same time.

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The company based in Molvena, engaged in the cre ation of technical equipment for dynamic sports, can count on as many as two Space spin-ofs: one of them has been developed for the ESA. It’s the space suit Skinsuit, which has already fown twice to the International Space Station and is worn by the astro nauts Andreas Mogensen and Thomas Pesquet. The innovative characteristic of the Skinsuit is the abili ty to simulate a gravity load on the astronaut’s body, counteracting the stretching of the spine phenome non, a side efect of microgravity which, upon retur ning from space missions, can lead to herniated disc. The other spin-of is a partnership with the NASA and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, designed with a view to the human landing on Mars. The challenge launched to Dainese was to manufacture a Space counterpart of its iconic suits, where the wearability of its models can be transfer red. In fact, the rigidity of the current spacesuits is a sour note for those astronauts who carry out extra vehicular activities.

Remaining in the world of high speed on track, we fnd two other Italian excellences which have crossed the Kármán line: Sabelt and Dallara Automobili. Specializing in the manufacturing of high-perfor ming seat belts for the world of automotive and For mula One, the company Sabelt, based in Turin, has

But technology transfer isn’t a one-way road. Quite the opposite, we may defne it as a four-lane, twoway motorway, with a very tight net of access ramps. Space calls on the most-innovative and high-perfor ming terrestrial technologies, products and proces ses, to develop a version designed for its own needs. The best of the best, carefully selected to go into or bit and even beyond. It’s also the case of a few Italian companies, such as Dainese.

are also a direct consequence of a Space need. The scratch-proof glass lenses, with UV flters, were intended to protect to eyes of the NASA workers

while they worked on the welding of rockets. Or, again, joysticks, which today are very small and can be maneuvered with a fnger on the next-generation gamepads, are a terrestrial transposition of the Space Shuttle’s manual controller, developed by ThrustMa ster Inc. Therefore, it’s no coincidence that they are so accurate and highly sensitive to our movements. And then, air and water purifcation systems, cloud platforms, technical shoes and fabrics, memory fo ams, lyophilized food, isothermal blankets…the list is nearly endless, not to mention the impact on the medical-diagnostic sector or agriculture.

technologies andhousesmeateeSpacefromsferredtran-toarthperourcities.

If we’re able to browse anywhere with our tablet or use a cordless vacuum cleaner, we owe it also to the Apollo missions. The NASA needed battery drills to collect lunar samples and turned to Black & Decker. Such partnership led to the development of several li nes of cordless objects which are used on a daily basis Sunglassestoday.

GLOBALSCIENCE.IT2050

Annalisa Dominoni and Benedetto Quaquaro, both of them PhDs, regarded as the maximum experts in the feld of architecture and design for space and extre me environments and founders of the (a+b) studio, are certain of that. space

SpaceX has also drawn from Fagioli’s engineering expertise. The company specializes in special tran sport and handling in the renewable energies, oil & gas, civil and shipbuilding sectors. The U.S. company turned to the Houston headquarters of the company from Sant’Ilario d’Enza for the engineered lifting and special handling of the Falcon 9’s engines. Fagio li has made available to SpaceX its next-generation modular trolleys, with a nearly unlimited transport capacity, whereas one of the crawler cranes with the highest lifting capacity in the world, confgured up to a height of 1.600 tons, has been used to mount the rocket parts.

We’re at the dawn of a new, extraordinary underta king of humanity in Space, and there’s a new world, a

Dallara, a brand from the Emilia-Romagna region which is a symbol of racing supercars and frontier innovation in the feld of aerodynamics and alloys, has partnered with Musk’s SpaceX by providing a component – which has been kept secret – of the Falcon 9, the carrier rocket which brought the frst astronauts to the ISS aboard a private capsule, the Crew Dragon.

Not only rockets, spaceships, landers and rovers, but also food, habitable environments and a few optional contents, which perhaps are not so optional.

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sort of parallel universe to ours, which should be ima gined, designed and created.

And now it looks like the company is about to embark on a new adventure, that is building the frst priva te space station, alongside Axiom Space and Spa ceX. It’s project in which Italy is already participa ting through Thales Alenia Space, to which the frst two elements out of the four which will compose the structure have already been commissioned.

The frst

Because we shouldn’t forget that space is a hostile en vironment, where the pioneers of the new conquest will fnd themselves facing several hardships. Today we know that, in order to carry out the project of an extra-terrestrial colony, the physical and mental wel lbeing of astronauts should be taken into account as much as their safety. And this is when design comes into play. It’s a subject characterized by a strong in clination to vision, which can act as a bridge between Earth and Space, crossing, by its own nature, several areas of knowledge and felds of application.

Same as Dallara, Fagioli has an important past in the feld of space, ranging from its contribution to the Rosetta mission – for which it worked on the logistic coordination for the Philae lander – to the delicate transportation of the housing modules manufactu red in Italy by the International Space Station, inclu ding the Cupola, the outpost’s window which ofers to astronauts the unique view of Earth from Space. And speaking of space habitats, a new chapter of op portunities and challenges starts with the Artemis I mission on the launching pad – the frst step to bring man back to the Moon, and this time to stay -.

transferred its technological know-how in the pro duction of resistant, but very light, materials to the aerospace world, by supplying the restraint nets for the Cygnus space refuelling vehicle, whose primary structure has been designed at the Thales Alenia Space laboratories in Turin.

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The company from Varano de’ Melegari has entered the space sector through Amalia Ercoli Finzi, by ac cepting the complex challenge of developing the drill of the ESA’s Rosetta mission, which was to succes sfully drill – for the frst time in the history of space exploration – the surface of a comet and extract sam ples for the on-site analysis.

An example of this are the ideas emerging from Spa ce4InspirAction, the frst and only Space design cour se in the world, hosted by the Polytechnic University of Milan, recognized and supported by the European Space Agency, created and directed by Dominoni and AQuaquaro.projectwhich, over the years, has marked the be ginning of excellent spin-ins, coming from sectors

SPAZIO 2050 | WWW.ASI.IT31

In 2019, Dominoni and Quaquaro developed a concept, commissioned by Thales Alenia Space, for a cislunar space station which, for the frst time, introduces a whole habitable module for the astronauts’ entertain ment. An ad-hoc designed space to promote leisure and relaxation, with elements of Made in Italy design and style which contribute to increase the wellbeing and quality of life onboard. «For me, the challenge –says Dominoni – is turning extreme environmental conditions from a limit into an opportunity and the refore, for example, trying to plan environments and objects which can take advantage from microgravity, without sufering from it».

From the Moon to smartphone, from Formula One to rockets, via Space design: this is the Space economy, an integrated system of knowledge which brings to gether the most diverse excellences, pushing the ac celerator of innovation transversally, strengthening the supply chain and, at the same time, crossing its borders by continuously attracting new players.

which are traditionally distant from the Space sector, such as microgravity-proof pasta, printed in 3D and containing its own sauce, which has been developed in partnership with Barilla BluRhapshody, or the forms of zero-gravity ftness investigated by TechnoGym. And again, the innovative atmospheres of light crea ted with Foscarini and the new forms of water experi mented by Jacuzzi and Virgin Galactic, for a wellness space hotel.

A virtuous system, which returns in multiples the assets entrusted to it, by translating them into re search, innovation, service, employment and hi-tech wonders.

The is the project of an infatable module for a hotel among the stars, where you can live an experience of wellbeing in the total absence of weight.

Space objects and sta,formsstructuralof3Dpadeveloped in partnership with Barilla BluRhap sody for a food and wine tasting in microgravity.

the geschallennitiesopportuchapterofbeginningmarkspad,launchingonmission,temisAr-1thetheanewof-and

VirginSpaceWellnessHotelGalactic

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Follow Qascom page in the Italian Space Industry Online Catalogue,

asing the safety of the GPS receivers. The activities have subsequently evolved by increasing the maturity of algorithms and complexity of supplies, as well as by developing products related to browsing. Among these, Qascom is producing a specifc multifrequency and multiconstellation GPS and Galileo receiver for terrestrial and Space applications. The Space version has been successfully used in several missions sup ported by the ESA, ASI and NASA. In the frst mission, named Gariss, Qascom’s receiver allowed to test the reception of the European and American satellite na vigation signal from the International Space Station (ISS). The subsequent missions allowed to test the skills of the Gnss receiver on sounding rockets laun ched by the NASA (SL-14 mission and the future SL-15 mission) and aboard the Bobcat-1 satellite, a CubeSat launched from the ISS which allowed to test the Qa scom technology for 6 months in space. From the suc cess of these missions, the opportunity has arisen to play a key role in one of the next NASA’s commercial lunar missions, in the context of the Commercial Lu nar Payload Services (Clps), thanks to an agreement between the ASI and the NASA. The Lunar Gnss Recei ver Experiment (LuGre) will test for the frst time the reception of GPS and Galileo signals during the stage of lunar transfer orbit and on the lunar soil. In 2023, with LuGre, not only Qascom but also Italy will land for the frst time on the Moon’s surface, after United States, Russia and China. Today, Qascom is expanding its international footprint outside Europe. By establi shing Qascom Australia Pty Ltd, it aims at enhancing the products of the parent company in the Australian and Asian emerging market, and also at creating op portunities for further growth and evolution by ofe ring research services related with the use of the Gnss in safety critical applications. Furthermore, it is entering new business lines in Italy, including test equipment for satellites which is used to validate specifc safety and cryptography aspects. The new operational headquarters are in an advan ced building stage and boast spaces for electronics laboratories, a data centre, an integration site and a mission control room. It’s a further evolution of the business, which aims at strengthening the knowhow and increasing the complexity and maturity of the services ofered to institutional clients. The new headquarters will also allow to attract new ta lents who will join the current team, which is made up of nearly 50 persons and represents the key to Qa scom’s success.

A showcase for small and medium-sized enterpri ses and national start-up companies, whose goal is highlighting unique growth paths, evolving business models and adaptation and anticipation strategies of the most advanced New Space trends, so that the whole sector can drawfrominspirationthem.

MEDSZOOMONMALLANDIUMSIZEDENTERPRISES Qascom is located in delBassanoGrappa(Vi)

with updated contents and links to the company’s offcial listing/qascom/https://italianspaceindustry.it/channels:

Born in 2004 from the intuition of three engineers, Qascom has contributed to design the signal of the Galileo European satellite navigation system and to day is developing technologies which will soon be lan ding on the Moon.

The company has always been working in the markets of satellite navigation systems and signal intelligen ce, which are now key components of the global Space economy. The passion and deep knowledge of techno logies are two elements which have always characte rized Qascom’s team and have allowed it to grow and build a network of international relationships in the aerospace sector.

Over the years, Qascom has become a European point of reference for the authentication of the Galileo si gnal and is one of the inventors of the Osnma (Open Service Navigation Message Authentication) protocol, currently in testing phase in the system, which allows Galileo receivers to authenticate the signal received from space. Over time, it has strengthened and in creased the partnerships with the European Com mission, the European Space Agency, the ASI and the major European companies in the feld of aerospace and defence, and has recently contributed with its know-how to the development of the Space and Earth segments of second-generation Galileo satellites. The company has also established itself in the feld of de fence.

Qascom bringsandgalileoitaly to the moon

by Silvia Ciccarelli

The frst 10 years of activity were focused on the re search of algorithms which were capable of incre

Cosmic exploration

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It’s hard to imagine the conquest of the Moon, and the landing of the frst American astronauts in 1969 with the incredible speed at which those facts happened, without thinking of the framework of Cold War which marked those years. The history of the frst human exploration of another celestial body is rooted in the immediate post-war period, when the confrontation between Moscow and Washington was unbalanced in favor of the United States, which had the option of a military strike on the potential opponent, if needed. The logic on which the policy of the two opposing blocs was based was that of “mutual destruction”, by using nuclear weapons. But if the United States had bases in Europe to host bombers who were capable of fying over Moscow, the Soviets weren’t able to do the same if they departed from the USSR. The only option for Josif Stalin was relying on the development of rockets, starting from the Ger man technicians who had been captured and who had a prominent role in the manufacturing of the V2//A4, the frst guided missile in history, with which Hitler would target London. They were joined by the group guided by Sergei Korolev, the pioneer of the Russian space who, with the approval of Nikita Krushev who was the successor at the Kremlin, manufactured the frst R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile. With this powerful carrier

From the Cold War politics to the conquest of the Moon, the birth of the Italian Space and the future on the Moon and Mars

by Giovanni Caprara

MOQUECOHISTORYFTHEONSTFTHEOON

life on Earth. Therefore, the frst task for Kennedy, once he walked into the White House, was to restore the nation’s lost supremacy. The challenge was be coming hard, because it had to be played in Space. After its foundation, one year after the Sputnik, the NASA designed a strategy which also included hu man fight to the Moon. It was in this context of Cold War that the American and Soviet Space activities found fertile ground to develop. The investments in armed forces, both in the United States and in USSR, to build increasingly sophisticated missiles allowed to have in place, with some adaptations, the carrier rockets required to launch satellites, interplanetary probes and inhabited Space shuttles. The ARPA, the Pentagon’s research agency, was established in the United States, and one of its frst commitments was the manufacturing of a “super” booster rocket, ca pable of 450 tons thrust (which, later on, was further increased) for a future powerful launcher. And when von Braun would design the Saturn V carrier rocket at the NASA’s Marshall Center, it would be the engine which would allow him to bring the Apollo capsules, with the astronauts, to the Moon in 1969. The Soviets would try to do the same, by manufacturing new and powerful carrier rockets such as the N1, but the ri valries between the two pretenders to the conquest of the Moon, Sergei Korolev and Vladimir Chelomey, and the subsequent waste of economic and human resources jeopardized the efort, and Moscow ne ver achieved this goal. From then on, the competi tion in Space during the Cold War would become less strong, in favor of the United States, where the huge investments in the military and civil sector produced

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Four days after the U.S. president, Leonid Sedov, a famous Soviet physicist who, later on, was in charge of the Space program, let it be known that the USSR would pursue the same goal. However the project, which had already secretly started, was too complex, and in order to beat the American antagonist in the fnal sprint it was set aside and replaced by the Pro steyshiy Sputnik, whose name meant “Elementary Satellite” (Sputnik meant “traveling companion”). In 1957, when it opened the Space era by entering into orbit, it showed the USSR’s, or rather the communist political system’s, technological superiority. And the United States, which were certain of being the undi sputed superpower because they had been the frst to build the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb, were dethroned by the small cosmic sphere, but above all by the display of power of the carrier rocket that had lau nched it. In fact, it could carry a nuclear bomb in the ogive and suddenly hit the undefended United States. In 1961, Jurij Gagarin’s fight strengthened the Soviet space domination and, at that point, the Cold War took on louder tones by resorting to missiles and in-orbit competition. John Kennedy based his elec toral campaign on the American weakness, and bla med Eisenhower for wrongly underestimating such perspective, conquering the White House in the wake of fear. It was a substantiated allegation, because Ei senhower thought that Americans should build TVs, rather than satellites. However, in the meanwhile he had to promptly respond to Moscow, and that’s why he approved the launch of the frst American satel lite, Explorer-1, based on the schedule Wernher von Braun had been working on for a while, using the frst military carrier rocket, Redstone, which he had built at Huntsville Arsenal. The Explorer itself showed the importance of Space research, with the discovery of Van Allen radiation belts around the Earth. Created by the magnetic feld after trapping cosmic particles and radiations, they had made possible the birth of

rocket, Moscow reestablished the balance as it was now able to threaten the American skies. Washington realized that only when, on October 4th 1957, Korolev managed to launch the frst satellite in history, the Sputnik, whose task was making a beep-beep sound, coming from Space and full of meaning, heard by the entire world. Such meaning wasn’t scientifc, but po litical. The satellite was manufactured in a rush, in order to beat the Americans who in 1955, through the announcement by the president Dwight Eisenhower, had decided to build an artifcial satellite for scientifc purposes. In those years, the International Geophysi cal Year had been organized: it started in 1957 to know Earth’s conditions better, and also Italian scientists took part in it. During World War II, it was exactly the birth of rocket science and other technologies, such as radar, which made it possible to imagine the manu facturing of a satellite, whose position in space would allow for the frst time a global vision of our planet.

The Italian San Marco satellite.

a technological progress on several fronts, which was promptly absorbed by the Defense and civil-industrial sector. An example of this is represented by the de velopment of chips and computers, which became the soul of each innovation.

This innovation gave birth to the skills required for the manufacturing of probes to explore the Solar Sy stem and rewrite its history and characteristics, by having close encounters with all planets, and several moons, to the boundaries of Neptune and Pluto. If the Soviets were focusing their exploration on Venus, the Americans would intensify their research on Mars, and the search for life in the aridity of the Red Planet became a fascinating adventure which would drive the creation of increasingly sophisticated tools. Also Europe would look up at the Red Planet, sharing this destination through the ESA and the ESA’s and the Italian ASI’s programs.

The astronautRussianJurij Gagarin, the frst man in space.

By looking down at the Earth, technology from Space allowed to decipher the complex mechanisms of at mosphere, its interaction with oceans or the move ments of continental plates from which earthquakes or volcanic manifestations were born. But, above all, it allowed to control the health of the “blue globe”, its al terations caused by man in land, water and air, and it made it possible to face and understand climate war ming, a perennial threat for the future of life on Earth. The Italian Space was born at this border of knowle dge related to our planet. In fact, we were still under the winds of the Cold War when the American Depart ment of State opened up to the European countries. The purpose was to promote Space initiatives from which the Old Continent’s science and technology

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In Italy, Luigi Broglio, heir of Gaetano Arturo Crocco at the Sapienza University of Rome and senior Naval Engineering ofcer, worked with the U.S. Air Force on aerodynamic research and took advantage of the U.S. government’s availability to support national projects. With this in mind, he proposed the San Mar co project, with a dual purpose: manufacturing sa tellites to detect the density of atmosphere and other related data, through the use of a tool designed by Broglio himself and became known as “Broglio scale”; preparing a launch pad at the Equator, in front of the coast of Kenya. The NASA and the U.S. Department of State approved the plan, and guaranteed the provi sion of the Scout carrier rocket to launch satellites. Furthermore, they trained all the specialists from the Air Force which would then take care of carrying out missions. And after the frst launch of the San Marco-1 satellite, from the U.S. base of Wallops Island, on the East coast, four more San Marco satellites departed from the equatorial platforms. And not only that: the San Marco project was also entrusted with the laun ch of fve astronomical satellites by the NASA. It was the only case in which the U.S. Space body agreed to have its satellites being launched in orbit by others. Broglio built around him a group of experts, and gave birth to a school whose protagonists would then feed the growth of the Italian space activities. Among them, there was Professor Carlo Buongiorno, who would also become the frst general director of the ASI. In Europe, the continuous readiness to work on the American plans, favored again by the Cold War, would ofer, among other things, the opportunity to participate in the shuttle pro gram, by building the Spacelab laboratory for scien tifc and technological research. It was an important step, from which will derive the sharing process at the International Space Station (ISS). Through this experience, Italy would develop a niche of expertise in the manufacturing of inhabited modules, so much that half of the modules installed on the International Space Station were born in the national industry, and the same goes for the logistics modules for the sup ply of the cosmic house, which would later on beco me a private business. Therefore, Space was born and has grown in the framework of the Cold War, raising awareness on a reality which increasingly combines technologies for defense with those for civil life. To day, in the context of the new Cold War (which has also an economic value), extended between continents in an increasingly intense contrast between the East and the West, we’re building the new future in Space, projected towards the colonies on the Moon and the human landing on Mars.

could beneft in the felds of science and economics, as well as to stem the infuence that the Communist system was trying to exert in several ways. That’s how the frst European expression of interests by Edoardo Arnaldi, which would later on lead to the birth of the ESA, were born.

Therefore, in 1972, the NASA decided to divert funds to a new program which involved the launch, within a few years, of a reusable shuttle to provide an easy and cheap access to the low terrestrial orbit. The Moon, which had already been conquered, was no longer interesting. This had been understood also by the astronauts themselves from the Apollo 17 mission, the commander Eugene Cernan and the geologist Harrison Sch mitt, the only scientist to travel to the Moon. Just before reentering the lunar module, they had pronounced their farewell speeches, even if they had deluded themselves it wouldn’t be for too long. In particular, Cernan said: ««I’m on the surface; and, as I take man’s last step from the surface, back home for some time to come – but we believe not too long into the future – I’d like to just say what I believe history will record. That Ameri ca’s challenge of today has forged man’s destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return: with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17».».

in partnership with other space agencies including the ASI, aims at returning to the Moon within a few years. If the frst mis sions at the turn of the ‘60s and ‘70s were the result of a competition, or better, of a war which had started in 1957, with the launch of the Sputnik, the frst artifcial satellite in history, by the Soviet Union, today going back to the Moon means much more from a scientifc perspective, and in terms of projection towards the future.

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The exploration of the Moon, carried out between 1969 and 1972 by six dif ferent crews, for a total of only 12 men who walked on its surface, allowed to bring back to Earth about 382 kilograms of dust, called regolith, and rocks of several sizes. It’s news from a few weeks ago, that scientists from the NASA have opened one of the last containers of Moon rocks which had been brought back to Earth by the astronauts from the Apollo 17 mission. At the time, the NASA had been forward-looking in considering that the progress during all these years would lead to more accurate methods to test lunar samples. The study of these rocks confrmed the hypothesis that our satellite was born nearly 4.5 billion years ago, when a planetoid named Theia, of the same size as Mars, that is about one third of our pla net, collided with the Earth, which back then was a protoplanet, that is a glowing orb. The debris burst out from the impact over billions of years compacted, originating what we call today as the Moon. Exploring it has given us the option to travel back in time, until we get to the Solar System

The lasT Time on The moon The Apollo missionAndiTs

Next December it will be exactly 50 years since the last time two human beings walked on the surface of our natural satellite. It was the Apollo 17 mission, the sixth and last NASA mission, because in those years the funds for the Apollo program, which included three more lunar explo rations, had been cut. The Moon had been conquered in summer 1969, and the promise made by the late lamented U.S. president, John Kenne dy, in 1961 had been kept: the Soviets had been defeated and the Stars and Stripes fag had been planted on the Moon’s soil. In those years, as mentioned, the Government would give a small amount of money to the NASA, and the American public opinion had got bored with those expen sive exploratory walks outside our world.

proTAgonisTs

36 | SPAZIO 2050 The Picturethe17pilotHarrisonastronautSchmitt,oftheApollomission,duringthirdmoonwalkofthemissionattheTaurus-Littrowlandingsite.bytheNASA.

by Paolo D’Angelo

That’s what the protagonists often say: going back to stay. Initially with missions lasting a few days (the longest one, the Apollo 17, remained on the Moon for nearly three days), to then make “stops” on the surface, or better below the surface, lasting a few months. To take this step, howe ver, we need a technology that we have learnt to use recently, and here the comparison with the Apollo program is clear. At the time of the pro mise made by the president Kennedy, eight years before the Moon lan

Todayformation.theNASA,

ding, the required technology had to be invented and the work by the American engineers was huge, but it made it possible to win the challenge. Today, with the Artemis program, the challenge won’t only be te chnological, but also economic and in terms of par tnerships. For example, for the Gateway, the project of cislunar space station, following the agreements we have now reached the stage of building the frst modules, on which several space agencies, with dif ferent sizes and skills, are starting to work. A global partnership, same as it happened with the making of the International Space Station (ISS), which has been in the terrestrial orbit since 1998, would represent a huge success for international agreements. Also the Italian Space Agency has been capable of carving out its own niche, based on the direct agreements with the NASA, to build several ISS pressurized modules. Our capacity as an Agency, and industrial capacity, has not only brought jobs to our country, but also a great prestige, which has been recognized worldwi de. And the tricolor fag will be drawn also on the Gateway, around the Moon, on a few modules and on the systems which are currently under construction.

The lunar descent module is still under construction. The NASA has commissioned the project to Elon Mu sk’s private company SpaceX, but has recently issued a tender for an alternative lunar module. And then, lastly, there are the next-generation spacesuits that will be used by astronauts during their extravehicu lar activities which are yet to be “invented”, and this may require some time. Obviously, in a near future, the housing systems for a permanent Moonbase will have to be developed, even if our country represents a specialized industrial excellence in this sector and is already at work. But these housing systems will have, at least partly, to be covered with lunar regolith to al leviate as much as possible the damages coming from solar and cosmic radiations. Therefore, to bury them, we will need automated or driven “earth moving” ma chines, as they are defned, which have never been manufactured and, obviously, have never been tried in reduced gravity environments. For the transportation of astronauts, we will also need to redesign more evol ved, spacious and autonomous lunar rovers than tho se used between 1971 and 1972, in the last three Apollo missions. This is just to make a few trivial examples.

The fromastronauttheApollo 17 mission, Eugene Cernan, gets ready to collect samples on the Moon in 1972.

Several people ask themselves why in the ‘60s, after less than two decades, we were able to create a com

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plex lunar exploration program, whereas today, with a way more advanced technology, times are clearly dilated. We defnitely lack a political push, as there used to be back then, and it won’t be possible to use much of the technology of the Apollo program, since it’s obsolete and, therefore, needs to be redesigned. So, all systems have been redesigned, from the carrier rocket to the capsule, from the lunar module to the spacesuits to be used.

only 12 ebackbroughthaveregolith,calledofkilogramsmonwalkedhavementheoon.382dust,beentoarth.

The current carrier rocket, which is still called with the acronym SLS (Space Launch System) in its six dif ferent versions, is very diferent, except from the hei ght which is almost similar, from the Saturn V, which, back then, was made up of nearly 5 million parts. The SLS is simpler today, and partly uses the technology of the proven shuttle system, for the two solid propel lant side boosters. Also the look of the Orion capsule resembles that of the Apollo capsule, but has a bigger size, and is capable of carrying up to seven persons as needed. By resorting to digitalization as it used to be for the shuttle, obviously also the internal systems are therefore more simple and less heavy.

Anyway, all of this will have to be ready around 2025, in order to conduct a few tests and, then, launch in the following year or years the mission that will bring back human beings to the Moon’s surface. These will be followed by increasingly complex mis sions, which at the moment exist only on paper. The conquer and colonization of Space and other worlds is still in the initial stage, despite the fact that several decades have passed since the launch of the frst ar tifcial satellite. There’s still a long way to go, but the evolution of man’s technological capacity, required for this adventure, has never made any stops.

The Saljut 1, launched on April 19th, 1971, was the world’s frst space sta tion. The Saljut program, which in cluded both civil and military activi ties, lasted 15 years, with the put into orbit of seven Saljut stations, the last one being a multi-module station.

But as we said, this wasn’t the primary target of the United States, which focused on the fully recoverable

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The Saljut 7 was launched on April 19th, 1982. As many as ten diferent crews served aboard this space station in the years from 1982 to 1986. The longest stay-time for a crew was 237 days. After the launch of the frst module for the new Mir spa ce station, which took place on February 19th, 1986, no other launches of cosmonauts were performed towards the Saljut 7. This was the last Saljut-type space station, which went back into atmosphere on February 5th, 1991, after a slow decay of the orbit.

by the ASI’s editorial staf

After the end of the race to the Moon, the United Sta tes and Soviet Union took two very diferent paths as regards the human conquest of space. If the NASA, in fact, focused on the Shuttle model, if we exclude the single Skylab program, to carry out experimental activities in microgravity, the Soviet Union signif cantly focused on the manufacturing of orbiting spa ce stations with the Saljut program. Actually, the two paths were destined to meet, and not only that: they were meant to make a long journey together. Such reunion seemed to have been prophesied on July 17th, 1975, when the NASA’s Apollo shuttle docked with the Soviet Soyuz shuttle, and the meeting in orbit betwe en the respective crews put an end to the Cold War, ate least in Space. In fact, the experience gained by the Russian space agency in the Saljut and Mir mis sions was essential for the development of the re quired technology for a long-term stay in Space, which was later on available in the ISS’s international project.

The Skylab was the only space station program ma naged by the United States, before the International Technical TesTs for a space ouTposT

Space Station. The orbiting la boratory was launched on May 14th, 1973. Even if it reached the planned orbital altitude, it didn’t work due to a few problems whi ch happened immediately after the launch. Hadn’t it been possible to repair in a few days the damages which happened after the launch, the space station would have been useless. Luckily, the crews of the Skylab 2 and Skylab 3 missions were able to repair such damages.

space shuttle vehicle as an orbiter to live and conduct experiments in Space, thanks to the Spacelab and SpaceHab modules, which were placed in the shuttle’s cargo bay. The program, whose frst mission started on December 12th, 1981, hypothesized a higher tech nological and economic efciency and was so ambi tious that also the Russians tried to imitate it with the Buran shuttle. Actually, the shuttle was an incredibly evolved machine, and was also extremely delicate. Each launch costed 500 million dollars and the main tenance of shuttles, after each fight, was long and complex. Such factors, along with the accidents of the Challenger and the Columbia shuttles, drove the U.S.

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The

More or less in the same years, the Soviet Union, thanks to the experience of the Saljut and the unfa ding Soyuz, gave birth to the Mir Space Station. And if Saljut meant salutation in Russian, Mir could mean both world and peace.

In its 14 years of life, the Mir hosted as many as 96 guests: not all of them were Russian or from the East, but several of them were European, such as the Fren ch Michel Tognini, the German Thomas Reiter and the Austrian Franz Viechboch, just to mention a few. It also hosted several Americans, such as John Blaha, who remained in orbit for as many as 118 days. The U.S. record for the longest stay in Space during a sin gle mission has recently been broken by Vande Hey, with 355 days on the International Space Station. Also the British Helen Sharman, the frst European fema le astronaut in Space, stayed on the Mir. Also the U.S. Space Shuttles were able to reach the

president Obama to radical change of course several years later.

The Mir was a space station, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia, made up of diferent mo dules, which were launched separately and later on were assembled in Space. In fact, the assembly, whi ch started on February 20th, 1986, was completed over a decade later, when the Soviet Union had al ready dissolved. The internal problems, particular ly from an economic point of view, in the USSR and then in Russia, helped the Russian space program to break other records, such as the longest stay in Space by the astronaut Valery Poliakov, who remai ned aboard the Mir for as many as 437 days and 18 hours. A famous commercial drew inspiration from this event: a cosmonaut who was returning to Earth found himself in Bratislava, which was no longer in Czechoslovakia but was the capital of the indepen dent Slovakia.

Credits:SoyuzandshuttlethebetweendockingNASA’sApollotheSovietshuttle.NASA.

The second mission of the astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti started on April 27th, aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. Minerva is dedicated to wisdom and is a tribute to those men and women who make Space fights possible. The mission involves several experiments that Samantha will carry out during her 5-month stay aboard the International Space Station, covering several sectors of medicine and nutrition and preparing the ground for the future Space exploration. Samantha will also be in charge of other tests which were already started by her colleague Luca Parmitano during the ESA Beyond mission in 2019.

Today, it has been declared ope rational until 2030, far beyond its original commitment, which was set for 2024. It’s been permanent ly inhabited since 2000.

In 2011, also China started a program for an orbiting space station, the forth in the history of Space. The Tiangong 1 was followed, in 2016, by the Tiangong 2. In both cases, they were orbiting laboratories, made up of a single module. The program of the Tiangong 3 started in 2021 with the launch of the frst module, Tianhe, which will be followed by Wentian and Men

A photo of Skylab taken by the 1973.onreturnspacetheyastronautsSkylab-2asleftthestationtotoEarth,June22nd

csamantharistoforetti

gtian. The station should be completed in 2023. Going back to the International Space Station, its ma nagement at international government level has an end date: 2030. But, in all likelihood, it won’t be the end of the ISS. In February 2020, the NASA signed a contract with the company Axiom Space for the in stallation of three new modules on the ISS, with the frst one scheduled for 2024. These modules will con stitute the commercial “port” for the station. Each country is moving its research and human explora tion to the Moon, whereas the Space economy will have a new Space stronghold in low orbit.

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Mir starting from 1995, through the assembly of a specifc docking tool, although the latter had been originally designed for the Buran, the Soviet shuttle, which was never operational. Those were the years of the international cooperation for the making of the International Space Station. The idea was launched to the European allies by Ronald Reagan: the station was to be called Freedom, and excluded the partici pation of the Soviet bloc, which was still existing at the time. That project remained in a drawer, or bet ter, was commuted into the making of the Interna tional Space Station which, starting from 1998, saw the involvement of Russia and 10 more countries, in cluding Europe. The ISS should have been completed in 2003; actually, its assembly was concluded in 2011, also due to the diferent issues of the Shuttle program, which was dismantled that year.

Through its space agency and companies, Italy played a key role in the making of the ISS. The experience acquired by taking part in the manufacturing of the Spacelab, for which the NASA had asked for the collaboration of Europe and had obtained it thanks to a strong contribution from Italy and Germany, led the Italian industry to be involved in the manu facturing of the ESA’s Columbus module, the Nodes 2 and 3, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) to supply the station following the closure of the Shutt le program and, in direct agreement with the NASA through the ASI, the Mplm, Leonardo, Rafaello and Donatello logistics module. Initially planned for the shuttle’s cargo bay, one of them, the Leonardo mo dule, was transferred to remain in a fxed orbit and today is the Pmm (Permanent Multipurpose Modu le), the only permanent element, from a single European country, on the International Space Station. The symbol of such technological and industrial capacity is the Cupola, a window on the world, in the truest sense of its meaning, which has been gladdening astronauts since 2008. As you read in the frst pages of this ma gazine, all of this lead Italy to play a prominent role also in Artemis, the future project which aims at sen ding human beings to the lunar orbit.

Earth-Moon:adualplanet

had observed through the telescope that such illusion was due to a sequence of mountains and highlands, we asked ourselves how they formed. A question that had to wait over three centuries to fnd an adequate answer: it was formulated by Alfred Wegener himself, to whom we owe the theory of continental drift, one of the fundamental discoveries of modern geophysics. It was him who understood that lunar craters didn’t have a volcanic origin (we would refer to the bursting of “bubbles”, which had worked their way up from an underlying incandescent magma), but they had for

by Ettore Perozzi

SCIENCELUNAR

The Moon turns around the Earth, but what turns around the Moon? Countless beliefs, myths, songs, novels, poems, movies, images, but above all science, a lot of science. Because such a bulky object couldn’t be ignored and lunar phenomenology, from the game of phases to the mystery of eclipses, has irresistibly attracted the best minds of all times. Let’s take as an example its cratered surface, which our galloping pa reidolia has immediately identifed with the face of a goodness, in perennial contemplating of our planet. Following the shocking revelation by Galileo, which

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that, from an astronomical perspective, the Moon is a big anomaly. In fact, its sizes and mass are out of all proportion in relation to the planet-satellite pairs that we can fnd in the Solar System. Even if Gany mede, with its 5.270 km of diameter, largely exceeds the Moon, which hardly reaches 3500 km, the si tuation is the opposite if we look at the mass: only 81 times smaller than the Earth’s mass in the case of the Moon, whereas for Ganymede it’s far beyond one ten-thousandth if comparted to Jupiter’s mass. It means that Earth and the Moon are so linked with each other from a gravitational perspective that they can be regarded as a sort of dual planet. The alter nation of tides on Earth is the most evident proof, so much that we can believe that the subsequent co ming and going of low and warm water has favored the birth of life. A signifcant climatic stability is then needed to start the evolution on the main road, a condition which only the Moon, with its continuo us orbit, has been able to ensure by “blocking” the inclination of Earth’s axis, responsible for the alter nation of seasons. In contrast, Mars and Venus, whi ch are the most similar planets to ours, do not have any satellites (Phobos and Deimos are most likely small captured astronauts) and their rotation axes, in the past, fuctuated wildly and chaotically. This may have caused Mars to lose the water which used to fow abundantly on the surface, and a comple te overturning for Venus, which would explain why it’s the only planet of the Solar System which turns around itself clockwise. That’s why we must thank the Moon twice, even if, as regards the search for fa raway lands, this means that we have to admit that it’s not enough to fnd a rocky planet in the so-called “habitable area” around another star: it also needs to have a Moon as big as ours, which perhaps was born from a cosmic incident. And this makes it more complicated from a probabilistic Let’sperspective…goback to the Moon, our Moon: living on a dual planet has undoubted advanta ges for a technologically advanced species, frst of all for science. Understanding not only the nature, but also the motion of our satellite has been a challenge for scientists since ancient times. Among the most famous discoveries, the so-called lunar “cycles”: the saros ensures that a given sequence of eclipses is re peated after a range of 18 years and 11 days (the credit goes to the Chaldeans, who lived in Mesopotamia ne

“We owe to muchMoonthe of what certain”.isitsEarth,aboutknowwethebutoriginstillun-

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med following the impact between other celestial bodies. Wegener advanced his theory in 1921, in the article Die Entstehung der Mondkrater (The origin of lunar craters), whose English translation was publi shed only in 1975, and this is why it struggled to make its way through school books until quite recent times. Since then, the collisional explanation has only been fnding confrmations; actually, the study of lunar craters has become a very powerful tool to investigate the past of our Solar System: an open window on the fve billion years of its history. From the age, form and size of lunar craters, we can trace back the fow of ce lestial bodies which would transit nearby the Earth and hit it constantly. By now, such traces have been cancelled by the erosive action of wind, rain, earth quakes, volcanos, foods and the invasive presence of ecosystems. By bringing back to Earth samples of Moon rock, astronauts allowed to establish their exact date thanks to the radioactive isotopes method, making order for good in the lunar chronology and, subsequently, in the Earth’s chronology. The last chapter of this saga may be written by the fnding of big ice deposits, with a cometary origin, within cra ters which are permanently in shadow, a discovery which would completely change the future scenario of Moon Therefore,exploration.weoweto

the Moon much of what we know about the Earth, but its origin is still uncertain: a cap tured and wandering celestial body, a natural satelli te which has formed together with our planet or the result of a huge cosmic impact? The diference isn’t banal, because it has implications even on the age-old question of life in the universe because, if we observe it as it shines so peacefully in the sky, we wouldn’t tell

intellectual and technological efort, about which re ams and reams have been written, but there’s a spe cifc aspect of that Space undertaking on which it’s worth focusing. Even if the good old elliptic orbits have been used to bring astronauts to the Moon, the countless studies commissioned by the NASA had led to the discovery of new trajectories which, by means of strange twirls, were able to connect Earth and the Moon in a more efective manner. A sort of “Space mo

torways”, which work the other way around compared to their terrestrial counterparts because, by extending the journey, they allow to save fuel. They were seen in action for the frst time in 1991, when they allowed the Japanese probe Hiten to enter into orbit around the Moon, even though it hadn’t been designed for this purpose and, therefore, it didn’t have enough fuel for a traditional transfer. Today we know whole families of this type of orbits, which play a key role in the new scenario of Moon exploration, starting from the orbiting outpost, the Lunar Gateway, which will be positioned in one of their pivot points, in order to facilitate arrivals and Alldepartures.explorations

have their own heroes: to conclude this article, we celebrate the American mathemati cian Charles Conway (1933-1984) who, in the 1968 ar ticle in which he outlines the new way of travelling to space that we have just described, uses prophetic words: “Though one can't predict whether specifc knowledge will fnd application, it is safe to assume that it happens often”.

SPAZIO 2050 | 43 WWW.ASI IT The studies manner.effectiveintheEarthconnectablechriestrajectoofdiscoveryledNASAbymissionedcom-thehadtothenewwhi-weretoandMoonamore

arly 3000 years ago), whereas the Greek Meton observed that 19 days are needed for the Moon to return to the same stage on the same day of the year. Numerology rules, but they satisfed one of the main purpose of science: predicting natural phenomena. After Copernicus, Kepler and Newton had laid the foundations of the modern vision of our planetary system, it was the marquis Pierre Simon del Laplace who, at the beginning of the XIX° century, inaugurated a new science, the Celestial Mechanics, of which the Moon immediately became the undispu ted queen. Disputed, from a gravitational perspecti ve, between Earth and the Sun, which continuously change its trajectory, the accurate calculation of the Moon’s orbit was an actual brainteaser. Among its main experts was Charles Delaunay (1816-1872), who se portrait, that can be admired in the Salle du Con seil of the Paris Observatory, immortalizes him with his right hand resting on the two volumes of his “The ory of the motion of the Moon”, the result of 20 years of work. Today, the Moon’s ephemerides are easily available, also online, whereas thanks to the Lunar Laser Ranging technique (which consists in bouncing a laser beam on the refectors installed on our satel lite’s surface), to which the ASI contributes from the Centre for Space Geodesy in Matera, we’re aware of its distance with astonishing accuracy.

And yet, when it looked like we had fnally managed to reveal its mysteries, the Moon surprises us again. Everything has (re)started when human beings have gotten in their heads not only to observe the Moon, but also to walk on its surface. It’s been a paramount

by Barbara Ranghelli

Rocco Petrone was not only a pioneer of the U.S. Space program, but also a symbol of the “American dream”, where anyone can achieve success starting from nothing. In fact, he’s the son of two Italian emi grants. He was orphaned very soon, and was forced to work to support his family, but he didn’t abandon his studies because he had a dream: joining the U.S. army. He managed to do that, and he became an expert of ballistic missiles, so much that Wernher Von Braun noticed him and, in 1960, hired him at the NASA to run the development of the Saturn V, the most power ful rocket ever built. The work was exhausting, but Petrone strictly complied with the schedule and got promoted to Director of Launch Operations. The voice of the countdown that we hear in the video of the Apollo 11’s departure, is his voice. He was then appointed Director of the entire Apollo program and, in 1975, also of the rendez-vous between the U.S. Apollo shuttle and the Soviet Soyuz capsule. Petrone was a protagonist of the biggest conquest of human exploration: the Moon. Without his contribu tion, this story wouldn’t have been the same.

The Apollo missions

A space shuttle with astronauts aboard weighs several tons, particularly if it needs to host also fuel, water, systems and equipment to carry out a lunar mission. A very powerful rocket is needed to defy Earth’s gravity with such a heavy object. At the times of the Apollo program, Wernher Von Braun designed the Saturn V, which has served very well, but today the NASA is more ambitious. For the Artemis program, an even more powerful launcher has been developed: the Space Launch System (SLS), designed for the Moon, but also for Mars and beyond. The SLS is more versa tile than its predecessor, and presents itself in three variations with different load capacities. One of these versions is even equipped with a compartment, which can host a small base to be mounted on the Moon. The new rocket has more thrust and is designed to carry up to 46 tons of load towards the Moon. In addition to the solid propellant boosters, the SLS is equipped with four RS-25 engines, which were also used for the Space Shuttle and have been reworked to adapt to the new confguration. Same as the mythical Saturn V, the new launcher is a source of pride for human engineering, and is ready to write the history of Space exploration.

This was the Apollo program: seven missions and twelve men departed from Earth to travel to Space until reaching the Moon, landing and returning home safe and sound. In this short description, there is everything: centuries of science, technology, challen ge, effort, cooperation, passion, sacrifces and a great courage. Over 400.000 people worked in various ways on the program, which culminated with the frst landing in July 1969, Apollo 11, and ended with Apollo 17, in December 1972. Over there, the astro nauts carried out experiments and measurements, collected samples and conducted explorations, and provided a huge amount of data which we are still analyzing. Not everything went well, there were unexpected events, malfunctions and errors, with deep moments of tension culminated with Apollo 13, when astronauts, the only ones from the program who didn’t touch the lunar soil, were one step away from death. After Apollo, the NASA used robotic probes to study the Moon, but we’re almost ready for a return in style. This time, we will build a station in lunar orbit and a base camp on the satellite. And from there, we will look at the next target: Mars.

SLS vs Saturn V: a comparison between launchers

curiositiesSpace

One of the most important goals reached by the hu man species is having managed, after exploring the Earth for thousands of years, to leave the planet and walk on another celestial body.

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Rocco Petrone

Elon Musk’s Space shuttle

Space tourists

Una rivoluzione importante nel sistema di lancio Undoubtedly, an important revolution in the rocket launch systems has been, in recent years, the recovery of SpaceX’s boosters. Already used routinely for the Falcon feet, they will express themselves to their ful lest potential for Starship, the prototype shuttle which is capable of carrying a load of as many as 100 tons to the Moon. Its Super Heavy booster, a 70-meter tall steel cylinder weighing 120 tons, will fall back on Earth once unloaded, but instead of landing by itself will be caught in midair, a few meters away from the soil, by a mechanical arm! Until a few years ago, it sounded like science fction, like many other ambitious and futuristic projects on which Elon Musk is working. Its SpaceX is the frst private company which sets similar goals to those of space agencies such as the NASA, the ESA, the CNSA and Roscosmos. For example, its city on Mars surpasses each project designed so far. Starship is the tool with which the company plans to reach these goals. As well as recovering the booster, which reduces costs up to 60%, it will be able to carry 100 passengers for each trip, offering a versatility whi ch has driven the NASA to start a fruitful partnership.

In 2001, the executive Dennis Tito bought a return fight, inclusive of stay, to the International Space Station, becoming the frst Space tourist in history. Today, several private companies offer suborbital fights to wealthy tourists: among them are those who are no longer satisfed and want to go further. It’s the case of Yusako Maezawa, founder of the largest bespoke clothing website, who, after visiting the orbiting station, now aims at reaching the Moon. The Japanese executive has already chosen his travelling companions and next year, after a long on-ground preparation, they will depart to the Moon aboard a SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft. If an expe rience in Space is also part of your dreams (and your budget), you may consider the packages offered by Space Adventures, a Space tourist agency. You just have to e-mail them and reach an agreement on the type of journey: admiring the terrestrial dawn from the Moon, being the frst private citizen to con duct a spacewalk or visiting the International Space Station. At this point we’re missing only a hotel. The project by the U.S. company Orbital Assem bly Corporation is ready: a big wheel in low orbit, resembling the space station from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. The hotel, scheduled for 2027 and powered by solar panels, will host up to 280 tourists and 122 staff members; its name is Voyager and will be equipped with a restaurant, bar, concert hall, gym and cinema. 5 million dollar-packages are already on sale for a 3-day vacation!

Lunar gravity

Thank God, we have the Moon, who knows whether we’d exist without it! We are lucky, be cause Earth is the only planet among those in the Solar System to have such a big satellite, an essen tial matter for our existence. For example, its strong gravity stabilizes our rotational axis and prevents obliquity, that is the inclination of the Earth’s axis compared to the orbit, from starting to fuctuate so wildly that the poles may reach the equator! Clima te changes would be so swift that they would even prevent the development of life. Instead, the Moon and the stability of seasons favor the existence of several animal and vegetal species. Furthermore, lunar gravity, with its effect which is similar to a magnet, generates majestic tides, which are ca pable of making sea levels rise by up to 20 meters, and the hard Earth’s crust by over 30 centimeters! Tidal frictions have slowed our planet’s rotation until today’s 24 hours, allowing the evolution of biological cycles – such as photosynthesis – and a less frenetic lifestyle! But things will change in the future, even if slowly. At the moment, the Moon moves away from Earth at a speed of 3.8 centime ters per year. In a few billion years, will the Moon be so distant that its gravity will no longer have effects? According to a few scientists, its behavior shouldn’t be taken for granted…We’ll see!

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Can you be considered a man when you give up mor tality? Can the eternal contemplation of a memory, or moving towards a journey without destination, be considered life?

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It’s no coincidence if such date corresponds with the birth of Auberon Young. Death is contrasted by birth. From the ashes of New York, we witness the resur rection of a Man who doesn’t surrender to pain and doesn’t give up the dream of a better future. The history of Auberon Young is the history of a hu the book PhoeniX:it’stime to rise again

manity which is continuously poised between Eros and Thanatos, life and death, until the unavoidable PhoeniXoccurs.

in a world which struggles to rise again from its ruins, auberon Young doesn’t give up love and his own ambitions.

In people’s collective imagination and folkloric tradi tion, phoenix is the universal symbol of rebirth after death. It’s a mythological creature surrounded by fa mes which, at the end of its lifecycle, burns one last time to rise again from its ashes. It’s an allegory for the resurrection of body and soul, or simply a warning to resist the adversities that await us over the course of life. The novel by Dario Vergari tells the incredible and rough story of Auberon Young, a researcher from New York who doesn’t give up his dream, the Moon, not even from a second.

Dario Vergari does not only ofer us a science-fction novel, but rather a refection on the existence and how we can fully enjoy it, without obeying to the constrain ts of those who manipulate our actions and thoughts and, above all, without fearing our mortal nature.

PhoeniX is the accomplishment of immortality, but it has a price.

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title: Phoenix author: Dario Vergari Publisher: Bré edizioni Year of edition: 2019 Pages: 345

The narration develops along a timeline where past, present and future are intertwined. The use of the frst person helps to transform the readers into spectators and, at the same time, protagonists of a dystopian and theocratic society arisen from the horror of a global Eachwar. chapter of this fascinating and romantic novel combines wisely diametrically opposite feelings and emotions: love and hate, fears and hope, freedom and Theoppression.authorstarts

with the disastrous September, 11th, 2001 – an event which, at the start of the new millen nium, deeply shook the certainties of a nation and of the whole of the West – and builds an awful evolution of our world.

is not only a permanent station on the Moon; metaphorically speaking, it’s a triumph of ingenuity over superstition; the triumph of man over God: «We had found God, it was us».

by Giulio Chimienti

@altecspace www.altecspace.it