Orateur
Description
Back in 2007 I was appointed Scientific Director of the Space Academy Foundation, jointly promoted by Telespazio, Thales Alenia Space Italia and The University of L’Aquila to foster high level training on space-related issues. To this end the workshop ”Novel Spaceways for Scientific and Exploration Missions” was organized at the Telespazio Fucino Space Center. The aim was to investigate the possibilities offered by the stable/unstable manifold approach to space mission design when faced to the requirements imposed by the scientific payload, the operational aspects, and the industrial approach. Sylvio Ferraz-Mello kindly accepted to be the guest of honour and opened the meeting with an inspirational speech on resonances and the associated chaotic routes. On that occasion he also revealed that his interests in space activities dated back to the very beginning of his career, when he contributed to receive in Brazil the radio signals from the Sputnik II satellite.
The main outcome of the workshop was a list of recommendations for follow-up actions jointly compiled by the participants. They appear at the very beginning of the book, co-edited by Sylvio and published by Springer, which gathered the contributions of many participants to the workshop. The title, “Space Manifold Dynamics”, had been also chosen during the meeting for referring to this new branch of spaceflight dynamics. Reviewing those recommendations from a twenty-year-after perspective is an intriguing exercise.