CDF Stand at “la Notte dei Ricercatori 2011 – ESRIN”
Every year as part of the European Researchers’ Week the ESA ESRIN site in Frascati, Rome, organises “la Notte dei Ricercatori” (Researchers’ Night), an evening where the public can visit the centre, watch presentations and demonstrations about the typical space activities and projects that ESA deals with and even get involved in some audience participation activities. This year the event took place on Friday 23 September from 16:00 hrs until midnight.
The CDF had been invited to participate in the event with a stand in the static displays and a presentation from Stefano Santandrea (Systems Engineer – Proba V Project) entitled: “Come si progetta una missione spaziale”or “How to design a space mission”.
Stefano was impressed with the level of interest in space generally and in particular the quality and number of questions received from every sector of society, from children to specialists. “I found this experience very enjoyable and it was refreshing to see the level of interest in space shown by the Italian public” Stefano said.
Presentations on ESRIN and ESA activities were followed by a guided tour of the multi-mission operation centre where data is received, processed and re-distributed. The tour included a viewing of the Earth in 3D thanks to the magic of the Virtual Reality Theatre and a visit to the ASI Science Data Centre exhibition area.
The event was a great success with more than 800 people attending, ranging from school children through to university professors.
