MER rover driver Paolo Bellutta will do a lecture in Italian on 5 March 2009 at 9 p.m. at the Planetarium of Milan, Italy: "Straniero in terra straniera - Cronache del mio viaggio su Marte". A martian meteorite will be on display.


Paolo Amoroso

Darn, I managed to make a mistake in the post title: the lecture is scheduled for March 5, 2009, not March 3.


Paolo Amoroso

For those who will miss this talk, and for those that are not sure they want to attend, I will go into the technical details on how we managed to escape Purgatory and Tyrone and how we managed to stay safe in Duck Bay. I hope I will not bore to death the audience, but the idea behind this talk is to give some examples of why managing a mission is hard and how we manage to keep our head cool under pressure.

Paolo

dang, I'd like to go to Milan - avete bisogno di un pagina-Turner per il vostro discorso? hehe

I have prepared a little Mars treat for Paolo. I'll tell about it with a pop quiz. Forget for a moment about fashion, design and the usual tourist spots. What place might a Mars buff want to visit in Milan, Italy?


Paolo Amoroso

Got to be something to do with Schiaparelli.

That sounds like an exciting topic for a talk, actually. Don't know what the title translates to in English, but is it something like "Escaping Mars Rover Death Traps"?

That's correct: Schiaparelli's observatory and telescope.


Paolo Amoroso

The title translates to "Stranger in a Strange Land", after Heinlein's SF novel which was my first encounter with Mars. It is also a word play indicating the Stranger (me) and the strange land (Mars). In Italian "straniero" not only can be translated as "stranger" but as "foreign person", so the word play is even more interesting in Italian as well.

Paolo

I'm really happy for this event here in Milan!



No problem, I'm prepared to die! You can speak as long as you want. I placed an emergency order of Lipovitan-D directly to the supplier of Hayabusa team .

I'm wondering if you have to be named Paolo to get in.

I' m posting from Planetarium of Milano waiting the start of event.
I will try to take some photo using cellphone but the lights are so low.. They are good only for planetarium projections.

I have to say that last night has been so much fun! The Planetarium was packed! I was floored by the number of excellent questions (about 1 full hour! of questions!!). Paolo was an excellent guest, and the Schiapparelly telescope was quite emotional. Thanks!

Paolo

Despite heavy rain discouraged moving across the city, you packed the planetarium dome with 310 people (max capacity around 370), from young students to elder people. At the end of the questions session, almost at midnight, you were as dehidrated and arid as Mars

Thanks for the great talk!


Paolo Amoroso

Dome lights are indeed dim. I was so busy that I didn't take any pictures. Some friends did, and I hope they will post some of Paolo wearing his absolutely cool "just keep rovin'" MER rover driving team 5th anniversary t-shirt.


Paolo Amoroso

Bravissimo, Paolo!

Some photos of the event taken by a friend:

1) Paolo Bellutta at the planetarium control seat (honorary Planetarium Driver)
2) Paolo exhibiting proof of the main difference between Earth and Mars: rain (men, lots of it)
3) Paolo with a group of space ehnthusiasts (cue JPL hat)


Paolo Amoroso

Bravissimo!!! Looks like a fine time was had by all!

Thank you again, Paolo for the really interesting conference.

Here some low quality pictures taken using a Nokia N95 during question time.

Click to view attachment Click to view attachment Click to view attachment


I asked an autograph to Paolo and he was really surprised. I offered him for signing my "sacred" copy of Roving Mars book and he initially refused to use it, as a form of respect to Steve Squyres, but finally agreed to use the page with his name.
Click to view attachment

It was really exciting hearing from his real voice some of the subject I read in the forum.

Nice pictures, the t-shirt is also seen. Looks like I got the sign wrong. The correct one is "keep on rovin'".


Paolo Amoroso

Well, it was really an amazing experience. I was really nervous, it was quite an event and wanted to make sure I did my best. Regarding the autographs, it might sound like a surprise to you but last night it was the first time someone asked for my signature (besides for paying bills I mean).

Paolo

Geology trivia: the mountain on the planetarium horizon outline just at the top left of Paolo's head in your first photo is Monte Rosa in the Italian Alps.


Paolo Amoroso

The good news is that a 1h 41m MP3 recording of the lecture is now available for download: http://milkyway.comune.milano.it/doc/09/03...tta05032009.mp3

The bad news is that it is in Italian.


Paolo Amoroso