L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013 www.italoamericano.com 17 At the Center of the Universe sIlVIA sIMoNettI Powerful emerging markets such as China and India are working hard in order to narrow the gap, but the United States of America still remain at the top in terms of technological development. Among the state-of-the-art research centers boasted by the US, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena specializes in robotics applied to the scientific investigation of the Solar System, Planet Earth and Universe. In the beginning, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was linked to the military industry for the development of missile systems, and still to this day around 15% of its income comes from defense and intelligence sectors. In 1958, it was affiliated to the new-founded government agency NASA, under the direct control of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Since then, the Laboratory has been employed for the production and testing of new technologies and scientific equipments to be used in the field of aerospace research. We are very proud to reveal that a team of brilliant Italian scientists works for this prestigious institution, representing Italy's valuable contribution to science at a global level. Among them, we have had the opportunity to talk to Dr. Cinzia Zuffada, Dr. Massimo Tinto, Dr. Fabrizio Pollara, Dr. Gianfranco Sacco, Dr. Paolo Bellutta, Dr. Marco Quadrelli, Dr. Sara Susca, and Dr. Paolo Focardi. Different roads led them to the vent itself, scientific progress is seriously held back by the lack of adequate investments, comand petitiveness organizational skills, as Dr. Pollara explains. "A country should always invest in pure science, just for knowledge's sake, since nobody knows where a A group of Italian scientists at the JPL of Pasadena - Dr. Sara Susca, Dr. Fabrizio Pollara, Dr. Cinzia Zuffada, Dr. Paolo Bellutta, Dr. Massimo Tinto, Dr. Giangi Sacco and Dr. Marco Quadrelli JPL: a child's dream, like it was for Dr. Quadrelli and Dr. Susca; or their heart, as it happened to Dr. Zuffada. Nevertheless, all of them moved to California also because of the lack of career opportunities in their home country. As they admit, even if Italy clearly has the potential to rein- certain discovery can lead", underlines Dr. Sacco. Yet, at the end of the day, Italy can still hold its head up high in the science field, as testified by the presence of these talented scientists in a cutting edge US research center as the JPL. An outstanding achievement especially considering that, in spite of old and new competitors, working in this laboratory is still like being "at the center of the Universe" - as one of Dr. Pollara's colleagues, now Professor at the Politecnico in Milan, said to him almost thirty years ago. And this statement has a double meaning: satellites and probes represent the scientists' eyes and ears in Space; and the researches carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory give a crucial contribution to the cultural and technological progress of humanity. Nevertheless, as underlined by Dr. Tinto, sometimes the "humanitarian" aspect may be a little too idealized from the outside, and he admits with great honesty and humility that "scientists are usually individualist and self-centered people". At the same time, Dr. Sacco reminds us that they have to deal with everyday issues, like paying the mortgage or spending some quality time with their families, just like all of us. But he also adds: "the only difference is that we really like our job, we are fond of it." This fondness is something they all have in common, and and projects. The result is that scientists are always encouraged to commit fully and not to "rest on their laurels." Besides these technical aspects, in the wake of the romantic turn in our conversation while talking about being part of global culture, we have asked to some of our interlocutors whether they would consider traveling and exploring Space as the driving force of humanity - like suggested by Isaac Asimov in his famous novel The End of Eternity. Dr. Quadrelli replied that "Space investigation, like no other discipline, has an influence on many branches of science and technology", while Dr. Susca affirmed: "the human desire to increase our knowledge and improve our condition is natural. By repressing this instinct we would lose purpose and initiative". And Dr. Bellutta also agreed: "exploring, understanding and building up new things is a natural human instinct. It is the fire that keeps us alive. without this vital energy we would still live in caves". On the contrary, thanks to the work of such gifted scientists at The Mars Rover Curiosity is exploring the red planet, driven by Dr. Paolo Bellutta and other co-workers of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory according to Dr. Zuffada it is fostered by the fact that: "working at the JPL we feel like we are part of an endeavor which goes beyond the individual, as we are contributing to a constant and enduring cultural growth." She gives credit to the entire system for that, underlining that such a challenging atmosphere is also due to the way job orders are assigned. Every year the JPL submits a number of proposals to compete against other NASA research centers and other laboratories to win different missions the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, we have long since left the caves and again behold the stars.

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