We turn our gaze along the line of the horizon, towards the dark sky, towards that destiny that runs along the red thread of ancient moiras. A new year is coming to an end, the soft laughter of a child echoes: 2022 already weakly releases its glimmer of light on the aerospace world. We turn our back and look at the past, at what has been accomplished, at what for one reason or another seems to us unfulfilled: the webinars, the laughter of joy, the victories, the always new and disruptive desire to create, build and whip up new ideas. We took off to reach the shores of Dubai, ready to launch the fire and the flames of missiles up high into the distant sky, to pierce the future and open it to the sweetest news.We turn our head to the past, to the thought of how much we have grown, of how boldly we have hovered in the air, without any weight on our wings, with the only dream in my heart. From Earth to Mars, one small step at a time, ambitious towards the red planet that fascinates us and continues to seduce us.
POLISPACE 2021 MILESTONES:
- Call and successful recruitment for CubeSat Project: Project manager, System Engineers, Team Leaders || January-February
- Webinar with Dr. Davide Conte “From Earth to Mars, one (small) step at a time” (open to all) || February 24th
- Launch event || March 13th
- Executive Members recruitment || March
- CubeSat Team Members Call || March-April-May
- Webinar with Giuliana Rotola “Legal perspective of the future of lunar exploration” (PoliSpace members only) || April 24th
- Webinar with Arianna Ricchiuti “Discovering tardigrades: small yet strong” (open to all) || May 7th
- Webinar with Jack Madely and Tom Kelly, co-founders of EVONA “EVONA: Entering the Space Sector” || May 15th
- “Phase-A Design of ICE CREAM: a cost-effective Mars Sample Return Mission” accepted to be presented at IAC Dubai 2021 || May
- Partnership with Sidereus Space Dynamics || June
- PoliSpace attended “Festival dell’Ingegneria” || 11th – 12th September
- Executive Members Call || September
- Partnership with SIDI (Swiss Institute for Disruptive Innovation) || October
- PoliSpace presence at IAC 2021! Two papers presented: “PoliSpace: a student approach for enabling the growth of the Italian space workforce” and “Phase-A Design of Ice CREAM: a cost-effective Mars Sample Return Mission” || October 27th
- Webinar with Paolo Bellutta from NASA JPL “Challenges of exploring Mars using rovers, landers and orbiters” || 7th November
- Webinar with Stefano Cappucci from NASA JPL “Exploration on Mars through aerial vehicles” (PoliSpace members only) || 19th November
- Cubesat Team Members Call || November
- New Board members party || 12th November
- New Board Members elected! President, Secretary, Treasurer || November
- PoliSpace joined Leanspace Hackathon || 15th – 17th November
- PoliSpace winners at the Italian Space Startup Competition || 20th – 21st November
- PoliSpace joined SEDS Italy as a Delegation || November
- Webinar with Giuseppe Cataldo from NASA “JWST: looking into the past” (Open to all)|| 12th December
- Christmas Party! || 17th December
Although the tough times brought by the pandemic, 2021 was a year of massive growth for PoliSpace. Born in September 2020, the association introduced itself to the international community at the 2021 International Astronautic Congress in Dubai. We contacted some sector professionals (reaching NASA JPL!) and organized webinars with them for our members. We established many partnerships with international companies, widening our network. We brought hands-on project opportunities to PoliMi students and delivered some of them. We grew up inside Politecnico di Milano and shared our passion with an increasing number of members and interested followers. In 2020 we lifted off towards our hopes and goals, and then, in 2021, we started rising higher and higher, leaning on our milestones.
Now, 2022 has just begun: how high will PoliSpace manage to reach?
Happy New space-y Year from the PoliSpace team!