Space Diplomacy: Workshop and Celebration at University of Padua

Activities will examine the role of scientists as diplomats in the technoscientific activities of space exploration, with particular focus on Soviet relations with US, France and the European Space Agency. It will trace their history of cooperation up until the Halley Armada, an international operation in the 1980s that sent a set of probes to investigate Halley’s Comet.

Coinciding with the University’s broader space history festivities, the InsSciDE workshop intersects with a lively program that will engage audiences in discussion of space diplomacy case studies, reveal payload built at Padua University for space exploration, and on the final day, stage a theatrical performance of the life and works of an esteemed space engineer and scientist of the University of Padua, the late Giuseppe Colombo. The days of discussion will furthermore contribute to a book under the working title of ‘Italy and science diplomacy: A historical reappraisal for the future global challenges’.