Europe Award for the Scientific Research

(Fiumicino, 24th November 2007)

With over 623 hours of navigation across the space, we could say: PROFESSION ASTRONAUT. Actually the space flight experience of Mr. Umberto Guidoni is one of the many stages of his intense career as scientific researcher. He graduated in Physics and specialized in Astrophysics and he gained a lot of experience in that sector working for Ente Nazionale delle Energie Alternative (ENEA) by doing research on the photovoltaic cells and then for Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario at the CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) by doing research on space physics. He was then nominated scientific manager for one of the experiments about TTS, the Italian satellite that was to fly aboard the Space Shuttle. He is doing research on the phenomenological possibilities of the electromagnetism in the ionosphere of the earth. Due to his research he was selected by the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana as scientific expert for the first mission of TTS-1 satellite. Therefore he moved to Houston at NASA for a very hard two-year training for the flight aboard the Space Shuttle. He was nominated crew member of STS-75 mission to be carried out in 1996 and he began a new two-year training for the flight aboard the Shuttle and in the Space Station.

Member of the European Space Agency in the European Astronaut Corps, he took part in a few scientific experiments of Columbus European module as orbital operations expert. On 22^nd February 1996 he carried out his first space flight aboard the Columbia spaceship to put into orbit the Italian satellite TTS-1R and another device for the research on the microgravity. The flight lasted 17 days completing 251 orbits and covering over 10 millions of Kms.

The second space flight experience was aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour during the mission to assemble the international space station, when he twice went out of the spacecraft for some technical operations. The flight lasted 13 days completing 186 orbits and covering over 8 millions of Kms.

Mr. Umberto Guidoni published several scientific reports about those experiences in a few magazines of that sector and wrote some interesting essays for the spread of science. In 2004 he was elected Member of the European Parliament and he is member of Industry Research and Energy Committee as well as of Balance Inspection Committee. He is also holding a supply position in the Environment, Health and Nutritional Security Committee.

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