Sept. 4 – ” The Church says that the Earth is flat, but I know that it is round, for I have seen its shadow on the moon, and I have more confidence in a shadow than in the Church.” Ferdinando Magellan was a brave man with a proud character. He had a firm conviction that the West and the East met because the earth was round, forming a globe that could be circumnavigated. It was not easy to earn trust and credibility but the firm and determined Portuguese navigator at the service of Spain reached his goal: he went around the globe and gave the world new boundaries. Magellan was the first to go directly from Europe to West Asia, and the first European to sail the Pacific Ocean. What went down in history as “the Magellan expedition” was the first circumnavigation of the globe, undertaken between August 10, 1519 and September 6, 1522 with a 5-ship fleet. The story of Magellan’s journey has reached us almost intact thanks to the notes of Italian navigator and geographer Antonio Pigafetta from Vicenza, who took part in the expedition alongside 23 other Italians. He worked for the rest of his life to keep Magellan’s memory and his experiences alive. And today, after 494 years, there is someone ready to repeat the feat and “revive” the great explorer. An expedition will retrace the first circumnavigation of the Earth to detect sea salinity and temperatures around the planet. The “Pigafetta 500” is an expedition sponsored by the Institute of Marine Sciences of the National Research Council of Venice (Ismar -CNR), the Veneto Region and UNESCO for the International Year of Water 2013. The mission also aims to celebrate Magellan’s first circumnavigation in history documented by sailor and writer Pigafetta in “The report of the first voyage around the world.” Velisti per Caso, aboard the sailing ship ” Adriatica” will touch 40 different locations, from September to April 2015, from Europe to the Moluccas and back, reaching South America, Polynesia and South Africa. Throughout the trip, ISMAR-CNR’s scientific instruments will carry out the first continued detection of sea salinity and temperatures of the planet with interactive sampling, remotely controlled and viewable online. “A multi- parametric probe will allow the measurement of sea surface temperature and salinity, at the same time it will be connected to the weather station on the Adriatic providing the location, temperature, air humidity, wind speed and sea currents” says Andrea Bergamasco , ISMAR -CNR researcher and scientific advisor of the shipment. “The observation of these major oceanographic features enables us to understand the current physical form of the oceans, their evolution and their climatic implications, in search of useful elements to understand dynamic and reasons for the changes in progress.” “The Magellan – Pigafetta travels are the most beautiful that a sailor could ever wish to undertake,” said Syusy Blady and Patrizio Roversi. “There are exciting stops planned, both from a sailing and a touristic perspective. The idea is to undertake a collective journey. We will be about 250 navigators, more or less the same size as Magellan’s crew.” Who knows how Magellan – with modern science and technology tools – would have prepared for this mission. After nearly half a millennium, everything has changed. Yet the passion for discovery and the desire for knowledge that is proper to man remain.
