The date was chosen because it is the anniversary of the launch of the first Italian satellite into space: December 16 will be the first National Space Day
Now space is part of our everyday life: in addition to books, movies and TV series set in the great unknown universe, there are more and more revolutionary discoveries, trips to the Moon and Mars - even if only with robots, and investments in space technology. Just think of the fascinating search for a new habitable planet.
And Italy doesn't want to be left behind: that's why it has decided to celebrate space with a dedicated day.
The National Space Day
The National Space Day will be celebrated soon, on December 16. The first of, hopefully, many. It is not a casual day, because it is the anniversary of the launch of the first Italian satellite, the San Marco 1, which took place in 1964.
The Day was established by a Directive of the President of the Council of Ministers, Mario Draghi, but it was proposed by the Minister for Technological Innovation Vittorio Colao, who is also delegated to aerospace policies.
The inauguration will be attended, of course, by the Italian Space Agency, Asi, which strongly wanted this Day. The objective is to make Italian citizens aware of space activities, and of the scientific, economic and international prestige results that they bring.
In fact, all the realities that operate in the sector are involved, to present their little piece of this very important "chain of command". Research organizations, universities, companies and museums all over Italy will be involved on December 16, opening their doors to visitors or raising awareness among citizens as they can.
The Day will be opened by Minister Colao and by the president of the Italian Space Agency Giorgio Saccoccia, and then will continue with a program dedicated to schools.
Past and present of Italian space research
In 1964 there was a very important event, the launch of the San Marco 1 into space. It allowed Italy to be one of the first countries in the world to go beyond the Earth's atmosphere: the fifth, after the superpowers of the time. The satellite was launched from a space base in the United States: its objective was to measure the atmospheric density between 180 and 350 km of altitude.
Today Italy is a country at the forefront of aerospace scientific research, between Government and companies. Just think of the micro satellite of the Turin-based company Argotec, which has just left for deep space on NASA's Dart probe.