(10 feb) – One of the satellites of the Galileo galaxy will be named like an italian kid, winner of a European Commission’s drawing contest. More than 16 thousand european kids, more than 1.500 in Italy, contributed with their drawings, full of ideas and creativity. The contest were created to stimulate interest in kids about spatial activity, and offer to 27 of them a unique opportunity: give their name to a satellite. In fact, the first two satellites successfully launched from the spatial base of Kourou (French Guyana) were named Thijs, like a belgian kid, and Natalia, like a bulgarian little girl, both of them national winners in last June. The vice president of the Commission, Antonio Tajani, said :” I’m glad that so many kids participated to this initiative. Their creativity and their dreams remind to all of us what pushed humanity beyond the visible horizon. With satellite navigation, exploration and observation, the spatial theme is even more important for the citizens and our economic future. With this contest we tried to stimulate kid’s enthusiasm for the space and its opportunities”.
From September 1st to November 15th, kids who lives in UE born in 2000, 2001 and 2002 – when Galileo program started – were invited to make a drawing with space as subject, scan it or take a picture of it, and upload it on the contest website.
In every country a national jury selected the best drawings, the winning kid of each country named with his own name one satellite of the Galileo constellation. (Roc)
THE GALILEO PROGRAM
The Galileo Program started in 2003 thanks to an agreement between the European Union and the European Space Agency (Esa). Galileo points at the worldwide civil and commercial sector. Its definitive completition is scheduled for 2014, counting on 30 orbiting satellites. The very first satellites have been launched on October 21st and further launches will be done in the next months to complete the constellation of satellites. Galileo will allow users to determine with extreme accuracy the position, in time and space, of every satellite. Galileo is the European program which aimed to develop a satellite navigation system under a civil control. It will be compatible and interoperable with similar systems, like the American GPS and the Russian Glonass.
