On
31 July 1992, Franco Malerba became the first Italian in space, serving
as Prime Payload Specialist onboard the space shuttle Atlantis. Though
his mission lasted only a few days, the experience has marked him for
life. Sharing his experience with others is a major part of that legacy.

“When you talk to young people about spaceflight,” says
Malerba, “you can see their eyes getting bigger and bigger. It
makes you realise just how great the potential of space activities really
is. I go to a lot of schools and I can see the effect it has on the
children I talk to, the way it stimulates their interest in science
and technology.” Malerba thinks space is an effective tool for
educating students. “We haven’t done enough to communicate
what we are doing in space. We can use platforms like the International
Space Station (ISS) and direct communications links to get children
involved, to get them to ‘look up’, to look towards the
future.”

On European unity and international co-operation

“We have made tremendous progress in Europe in dismantling technical
and commercial barriers,” says Malerba, “but we still have
a culture gap. Our various constituencies are still very nationalised.
So, as Mr De Winne
has pointed out, the Belgians are still more interested in their own
astronauts and the same goes for the Italians. It’s just like
a big football tournament. We are not yet Europeans in space.”

After being selected as Payload Specialist in 1989, Malerba was assigned
to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, for training.
This experience means he is well placed to speak about the internationalisation
of space. “Astronauts and cosmonauts have always anticipated the
coming together of nations,” he says. “I go back to the
historic meeting of Leonov and Stafford during the Apollo-Soyuz mission
in the 1970s, two old enemies coming together in space in a spirit of
co-operation, long before there was any such co-operation taking place
on the ground.

“The wider space community has always had a common set of values,
a common vision of humanity. Again, we see this today in the ever-increasing
co-operation between ourselves, the Americans and the Russians, especially
in the context of the ISS. There is something very powerful in the symbolism
of men and women of different nations working together and depending
on one another in a space station high above the earth.”

Russia as a full partner in space

Under the European Commission’s new Sixth
Framework Programme , which for the first time includes Space research
as a priority area, Russia can now participate as a full and equal partner.
Speaking at the recent workshop
on Euro-Russian co-operation in space , Malerba said, “I remember
being inspired as a child, following the exploits of the great Soviet
pioneers, Gagarin, Leonov and so many others. With the unparalleled
experience of the Russians, it makes sense for Europe to strengthen
its ties to Russia now. Research and industrial co-operation across
borders and across cultures is a complex undertaking, but ESA
and Rosaviakosmos
have shown that it is possible and that it can be beneficial to both
sides.”