Italy and Space: Habitat Modules [first edition]

This book, which contains a wealth of facts and is very easy to read, is the exciting story of a thrilling adventure, encompassing Italian participation in the various projects for a space laboratory, from the Spacelab to the Columbus program. The story is well worth telling because, apart from a narrow circle of specialists, only a few people are aware that Italy made such an outstanding technical and industrial contribution to space exploration. The author, now President of Alenia Spazio, has been directly involved in the most important phases of this great technological challenge for more than thirty years. His reconstruction -technically meticulous and enlivened by vivid human aspects- aims especially at "pointing out the spirit animating these events and the strategy at the basis of such enterprises". As a matter of fact, Italian participation in space programs has been guided by a strategy that, "thanks to the enlightened vision of a few people", enabled Italy to acquire a privileged position in the exploration and exploitation of this "new frontier" of mankind.