The space boffins” “

It’s a golden moment for ESA, the European Space Agency, which is emerging as one of the great protagonists of research to unlock the secrets of the stars in the sky and the universe. And while the spotlights are turned on Kourou, the European cosmodrome situated in French Guinea, for the launch of the Rosetta space probe, the astrophysicist Margherita Hack has confirmed to the public what the experts already knew: i.e. that the presence of water on Mars, published by NASA in recent days, had already been ascertained by Mars Express, the other probe produced by the boffins of ESA. A TEN YEARS VOYAGE AMONG THE STARS. Just as the Rosetta Stone permitted the secrets of the hieroglyphic alphabet to be cracked, helping us to gain a hitherto impossible knowledge of Egyptian civilization, so the Rosetta probe will help us to penetrate the hitherto impenetrable mysteries at the origin of our solar system. The probe developed by the European Space Agency was launched by an Ariane5G rocket from the Kourou space station on Tuesday, 2 March, after two abortive attempts in the previous week. So began a journey lasting ten years and covering several billion kilometres towards the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet. Its aim is to realize the exploit, the first in the history of space exploration, of releasing a landing craft on a comet in the search for elements to help us understand the birth of the Sun, stars, planets, the Earth and the Moon. In 2014 Rosetta and its landing craft Philae will encounter and study the comet at a distance of 675 million kilometres from the Sun. Great satisfaction in the successful launch was expressed by Jean Jacques Dordain, director general of the ESA: “Now we’ve got to be patient, because the rendezvous with the comet will only take place in ten years’ time, but I believe it’s worth waiting so long”. For his part the European Commissioner for research, Philippe Busquin, has affirmed that this mission “demonstrates what Europe is able to do in the space field. And with the imminent integration of the Russian Soyuz rocket, we will achieve another target in our bid to acquire the status of a space power at the world level”. A CONSORTIUM OF 15 COUNTRIES AND CENTRES THROUGHOUT EUROPE. Since a missile capable of delivering the space craft directly to its destination does not yet exist, Rosetta now faces five years of orbiting the Earth and Mars: then, exploiting the gravitational impulse provided by the two planets, it will depart for its final destination. Rosetta “will be the first probe to go into orbit round a comet – explain the scientists of ESA -, in order to release onto its surface a small robot that will harpoon itself to its icy nucleus in order to analyse its contents”. The choice of the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet was taken a year ago, after a first abortive launch in January 2003, due to problems in the rocket launcher. Since the date of the mission had to be postponed, the ESA was also forced to change its “target”. The Rosetta mission marks a result of particular importance for ESA, an agency with 15 member countries, many of them member states of the EU. The probe, realised thanks to the collaboration of space centres in Germany, Holland, Belgium and Italy, and directed from the agency’s headquarters in Paris, will thus be the first ever to reach a comet. RESEARCH AT THE SERVICE OF PHYSICS, MEDICINE AND INDUSTRY. The probe’s main intention is to continue investigations on the solar system. The data collected and the tests conducted on the materials used in the mission will however permit scientists to develop research not only in the space sector, but also in the physical and chemical fields. ESA in fact provides valuable scientific elements for application to medicine, meteorology and industry. In particular “the study of the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet – explain ESA researchers – will permit scientists to observe at close range a celestial body whose origins go back four and a half million years, when the planets of the solar system had not yet been formed and when innumerable asteroids and comets were orbiting round the sun. Philae will analyze the composition of the comet and reveal its electro-magnetic properties”. The ESA, which employs two thousand staff, half of them researchers, pursues various “statutory” objectives: it is responsible for the formulation and implementation of the European space programme; “its projects are aimed at improving our knowledge of the Earth, the space environment, the solar system and the universe, developing technologies based on the use of satellites, and promoting the role of European industries”. ESA “research also helps medical science, given that many of the discoveries that have improved and prolonged our life derive from space research. The last breakthrough concerns the fight against tumors”. ———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1278 N.ro relativo : 18 Data pubblicazione : 11/03/04