Padova – “Send you drawings in space with Cheops”. This is the title of the initiative promoted last year by ESA member states. Those participating in the project Cheops (Characterising Exo Planets satellite) hoped to engage the youngest generations by inviting them to draw illustrations that will be sent in space through the space telescope. The Agenzia Spaziale Italiana lead the project in Italy, together with the National Institute of Astrophysics and the University of Padova. Italy and the other countries that fostered the contest received thousands of drawings. In the future months 3000 amongst them will be picked, miniaturized and impressed on two plates that will be mounted on the telescope. Cheops have been built by ESA and Switzerland. Italy’s contribution to the project has been extremely significant, especially thanks to the Italian Agency for Space and the technical and scientific cooperation of the INAF and the University of Padova. (9colonne)
