Franco Malerba is the first Italian astronaut who flew in space with the Atlantis shuttle on 31st July 1992, bringing in orbit around Earth the Eureca laboratory and the Italian Tethered Satellite (TSS1). He is one of the few human beings who saw Earth as … a globe, spending eight days in space, flying 126 orbits around our planet. It was a “first” for the Italian Space Agency (ASI) in manned spaceflight.
Today Franco Malerba is an actor of science, exploration and innovation, engaged in new initiatives:
- assisting small innovative European space companies that have won European H2020 projects, as Coach of the European Commission
- participating as a Special Guest / Key-note-speaker in company conventions, where he interprets the space mission – symbol of the new frontier – as a paradigm of the values such as commitment to shared objectives, good practices in teamwork, rigorous preparation for contingencies and change, smart use of resources available
- contributing to the dissemination of scientific culture with the annual organization of the Busalla Space Festival
- broadening the boundaries of scientific communication with the staging of “Journey in Space”, a recital of words and music blending the narration of space travel by Franco Malerba himself with the music of the Alexandria Classical Orchestra lead by Maestro Luciano Girardengo.
- La Vetta / The Summit, in which he gives his personal account of the complexities and emotions of conquering the highest summit above Earth
- Professione Astronauta, a biography revealing firsthand the “Behind the scenes” of his extraordinary run-up to the conquest of his assignment to spaceflight.