Christian Lavarian: Space, the final frontier

The journey through the Universe between science and science fiction continues.

Fifty years ago, the first human beings set foot on the moon, and in the decades that followed, ambitious projects have led to unimaginable achievements, thanks to international international cooperation.

Today, private space agencies are appearing on the world stage.

With what projects? Is living on the Moon an achievable goal? Can a crew get on Mars?

Space is attractive not only for economic reasons, but above all for the constant, unchanging human desire to challenge the unknown. Science fiction has always inspired and sometimes anticipated this path to knowledge and can be a surprising key to reading the future.

Christian Lavarian is coordinator of the astronomy section of the MUSE in Trento.

He is curator of the temporary exhibition "Cosmo Cartoons. The exploration of the Universe between science and pop culture" (at the Muse until 14 June 2020).

Designed in collaboration with Milan's WOWJ comics museum, the exhibition recounts the fascinating interweaving of science and science fiction in the field of space exploration, and this will be the theme of our meeting.

Tommaso Ghidini

He is a ESA scientist (European Space Agency) and Head of ESA’s Structures, Mechanisms and Materials Division. teaching at Politecnico di Milano as a visiting professor on the first Additive Manufacturing for Space and Aerospace Applications course. After working at Airbus, he joined ESA in 2007 with important roles in aerospace research and design.