Meloni welcomes astronaut Parmitano: pride in ‘Italia’s excellence in the space sector’

Congratulations and pride at “the confirmation of Italia’s excellence in the space sector”. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano to Palazzo Chigi this morning; he has been appointed by NASA as pilot for the Artemis III mission. “We are very proud and very curious,” said Meloni.

The launch is scheduled for 2027 with the aim of paving the way for humans to return to the Moon. Parmitano, who works for the European Space Agency (ESA), will, as announced by NASA, set off alongside the astronauts Randy Bresnik, Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio, all tasked with carrying out a complex and strategic mission – a sort of ‘test flight’ with a crew in Earth orbit. Training will begin immediately on the Orion spacecraft systems and will support the development and operations of the test versions of the landing modules from Blue Origin and SpaceX, led by Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos respectively.

Accompanied by his wife, Parmitano explained that ‘it’s a one-of-a-kind mission; it’s somewhat reminiscent of what happened with Apollo 9, which, however, was the ninth mission. For us, it’s the third – the second with a crew – and it’s the very first in which we’ll be testing some of the systems essential for the Moon’. In short, a ‘mission that is 100 per cent about experimentation and testing’. “Initially, one of the landers will be in orbit, after which we’ll set off. We’ll carry out rendezvous manoeuvres – that is, orbital manoeuvres, including in manual mode: we’ll manoeuvre the spacecraft to get close to the Lender, dock with the Lender, and allow the astronauts to transfer from one spacecraft to the other.” Then ‘we’ll undock, fly round the Lender to check that everything has gone well, and head off’.

“The first lander,” the astronaut explained, “will burn up in the atmosphere; another will be launched, and we’ll carry out the same manoeuvres but using different procedures, because the two landers are very different – we’re designing them from scratch with the ground crew. ‘It’s an extremely complex mission,’ he added, ‘because, whilst the first one – Artemis II, which landed recently and was a great success – involved just one spacecraft with a relatively simple mission profile, we have three spacecraft, three control centres, and three ground crews who must all work together in a coordinated manner to ensure the success of our manoeuvres and our mission. From Monday, I’ll probably be strapped firmly into the spacecraft’s seat to learn everything, bolt by bolt.”

Parmitano’s appointment “brings honour to the entire nation”, the Prime Minister was keen to emphasise, as she presented the astronaut with the official colour-matched replica of the Republic’s tricolour flag, kept at Palazzo Chigi, which will accompany the Artemis III mission. A symbol of Italian ingenuity, identity and pride taken into space.