L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2026 www.italoamericano.org 26 L'Italo-Americano S tarting November 13, visitors to Los A n g e l e s w i l l b e able to see a piece of American space exploration history for the first time: Space Shuttle E n d e a v o u r , t h e N A S A spacecraft that completed 25 o r b i t a l m i s s i o n s b e t w e e n 1992 and 2011. In May 2011, Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori traveled aboard this very Shuttle during mission S T S - 1 3 4 , w h i c h l a u n c h e d from Kennedy Space Center in Florida and was one of the final missions of the Shuttle program. F o r t h e f i r s t t i m e , t h e S p a c e S h u t t l e w i l l b e d i s - played in its complete launch configuration, together with t h e m a s s i v e e x t e r n a l f u e l tank and the two solid rocket b o o s t e r s t h a t p r o p e l l e d i t away from Earth. It will be the centerpiece of the new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Sci- ence Center. For the United States, the Shuttle is one of the most recognizable sym- bols of its space history. But behind the spacecraft that m a r k e d a n e r a i n h u m a n exploration lies an Italian story, too. T h a t s t o r y i s t o l d b y Roberto Vittori himself, an astronaut with the E u r o - pean Space Agency and a former Italian Air Force gen- eral. Originally from Bomar- zo, near Viterbo, he has been based in Houston since 1998. "Space Shuttle Endeavour is an extraordinary machine n o t o n l y i n t e r m s o f i t s appearance, but also from a technological and operational standpoint," Vittori tells us. Before his 2011 Shuttle mis- sion, he had already traveled into space aboard the Soyuz in 2002 and 2005. "Endeav- our is certainly an American symbol, but there is a great deal of Italian heritage in what it represents and what it reminds us of. It takes us back to a particularly signifi- c a n t p e r i o d i n h i s t o r y f o r Italy as well." What significance did t h a t m i s s i o n h a v e f o r Italy and for the space program? With the landing of STS- 1 3 4 , t h e S h u t t l e p r o g r a m effectively came to an end. The subsequent STS-135 was a limited mission. Ours was the last major mission in the true sense of the word, and it carried a hugely important experiment into space: AMS, in which Italy played a major role. My career coincided with a time when Italy had a particularly prominent inter- national role in space explo- ration. Unfortunately, I have to speak about that in the past tense: the Shuttle no longer flies, and Italy's role has diminished, in a context where the overall landscape has changed significantly. What was that experi- ence like for you? It was something I had wanted very intensely. As a test pilot, I had always seen the Shuttle as an incredibly f a s c i n a t i n g m a c h i n e . I ' m very happy I got the chance to fly on it, and to do so with an exceptional crew, starting w i t h C o m m a n d e r M a r k Kelly, now a senator in Ari- zona, and pilot Greg John- son, known as Fox. How long did you stay in space? What does it feel like to be up there? We spent fifteen days in s p a c e . M i c r o g r a v i t y i s a completely abnormal condi- t i o n f o r o u r b o d i e s , a n d especially for our brains: w h a t y o u s e e n o l o n g e r matches what you feel. Liv- i n g i n m i c r o g r a v i t y i s a n almost surreal experience. Here on Earth, we cannot e v e n t r u l y s i m u l a t e t h e absence of gravity, so when I look back on that experi- ence, it almost feels like a d r e a m . I t i s a u n i q u e , incredible and unrepeatable experience. H o w d i d t h e 2 0 0 3 Columbia disaster affect the future of the Shuttle program? It changed the course of space history. When we talk today about the New Space Economy and the role of pri- vate companies, we rarely realize that this new phase began precisely because mis- sion STS-107 failed to return t o E a r t h . T h a t w a s w h e n NASA realized it needed to change direction and decid- ed to bring the Shuttle pro- gram to a close. It is some- thing I deeply regret. The S h u t t l e i s a f u t u r i s t i c m a c h i n e , a v e h i c l e t h a t arrived before its time. I am convinced it will once again become the means of trans- portation of the future, even if my generation, and proba- bly the next one, will have to do without it. How does the Shuttle compare with modern spacecraft such as those developed by SpaceX? I think we are too easily influenced today by the self- congratulatory messaging of t h o s e r u n n i n g S p a c e X , which can certainly point to significant achievements. But the Shuttle, despite hav- ing been developed twenty or thirty years before the Falcon 9 and Starship, had an edge. Of course, it was also more complex. What was the career p a t h t h a t l e d y o u t o b e c o m e a n a s t r o n a u t and move to Houston? I was selected by the Ital- ian Space Agency and sent to Houston to begin Shuttle t r a i n i n g , a t p r e c i s e l y t h e time when the International S p a c e S t a t i o n w a s t a k i n g s h a p e . T h e r e w a s a v e r y i m p o r t a n t a g r e e m e n t between the Italian Space Agency and NASA, under w h i c h I t a l y w a s t o b u i l d some of the station's main modules. Under that agree- m e n t , I t a l i a n a s t r o n a u t s trained with NASA. It was an incredible achievement, one that unfortunately receives far too little attention. Italy p l a y e d a v e r y s i g n i f i c a n t role, both within the Euro- pean Space Agency and in its bilateral relationship with NASA. After three space mis- sions, would you go back into space? Even today! Naturally, it takes a great deal of physical and psychological prepara- tion, as well as determina- tion. The mission itself, once y o u r e a c h l a u n c h d a y , i s probably the easiest part. Everything else is extremely complicated. The system is full of contradictions, and c h o o s i n g t h i s p a t h i s n o t easy, because you can never be certain you will actually get to fly until it finally hap- pens. What would you like visitors to understand when they look at Space Shuttle Endeavour? The Shuttle is the trans- p o r t a t i o n s y s t e m o f t h e future. A hundred years ago, a i r p l a n e s d i d n o t e x i s t , whereas today they are part of our everyday lives. A hun- dred years from now, space- planes will be just as com- monplace. The Shuttle is the first prototype of a trans- portation system that will completely change the way we think about distances on p l a n e t E a r t h . T h i s i s t h e message I would like to con- vey: Space Shuttle Endeav- our at the museum in Los Angeles does not represent t h e p a s t , b u t t h e f u t u r e . Space is destined to become our everyday working envi- ronment and a major oppor- tunity for the Earth's ecosys- tem. SILVIA NITTOLI Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori flew aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-134 in May 2011; inset: California Governor Gavin Newsom beneath Endeavour at the California Science Center in Los Angeles (Photo courtesy of Roberto Vittori; inset Photo: Silvia Nittoli) Endeavour, the Space Shuttle that carried Roberto Vittori into space, goes on display in LA LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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