The first suborbital mission aimed at scientific research and the experimentation of the consequences of microgravity on the human body, named ’Virtute 1“, has launched from Las Cruces in New Mexico (USA).
Thursday 29 June, from Spaceport “America”, a Virgin Galactic company, in the Las Cruces Desert in New Mexico (USA), the “Virtue 1" mission, which saw the spaceship take off for the first time, took place with complete success. SpaceShipTwo with an Italian crew, composed of two Italian Air Force Officers and a CNR engineer.
The crew members are Colonel Walter Villadei, a space engineer and cosmonaut, holding the role of Mission Commander and coordinator of the operational activities and training of the Italian crew, Lieutenant Colonel Angelo Landolfi, an aerospace doctor and Spaceflight Surgeon in the role of manager for the medical aspects of the Italian crew and the experiments in medicine proposed by the Italian Air Force, and Dr Pantaleone Carlucci, engineer and researcher from the National Research Council (CNR), in the role of manager for the onboard experiments coordinated by the aforementioned Council.
This is the first suborbital flight carried out by Italian governmental institutions, with an Italian crew and the first of its kind ever to be conducted by a European country.
During the flight, which lasted seventy-five minutes in total, following the engine shutdown, the crew conducted experiments in microgravity conditions. These conditions made it possible to carry out multidisciplinary experiments, otherwise difficult to achieve, relating to medicine, advanced materials, fluid physics, and physiology. The results obtained and the data collected will allow for the study of the effects of agents such as radiation, free radicals, and oxidative stress, which are the basis of many human pathologies and the cause of cellular ageing. The information acquired will also provide useful data for scientific research applicable to various sectors, not only technological but also for human health.
“Space is a strategic domain of which the Defence is the protagonist,” declared the Minister of Defence, Guido Crosetto, at the conclusion of the mission.
“The Ministry of Defence, and in particular the Air Force, with its wealth of expertise, is naturally geared towards the enhancement and protection of Space defence e Security. ”Space flight is an aeronautical domain ripe for exploration and represents a technological challenge where national technical and industrial expertise can fully play its part. Scientific, entrepreneurial, and military development must all work together to ensure the right level of relevance in this domain as well. This will guarantee the maintenance of excellence in the National Aerospace sector" – thus the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General S.A. Luca Goretti, on the sidelines of the event.
Colonel Villadei, the mission commander, stated at its conclusion: “It has been an honour to represent my country, the Air Force and the Ministry of Defence on the first scientific research space flight. Our space research flight, Virtute 1, is an epoch-making mission that will expand our scientific knowledge in this new era of space travel. The scientific opportunities that await us were unimaginable just ten years ago. We are grateful for the collaboration with Virgin Galactic in expanding the frontiers of exploration and advancing our understanding of the universe.
Within the “Virtute 1” Mission, several research projects in medicine have been carried out, coordinated among others by specialised personnel from the Air Force's Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IMAS) in Milan, which operates under the Air Force Logistics Command, by researchers from the Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico and the University of Milan, and by the Department of Industrial Engineering and Mathematical Sciences of the Faculty of Engineering at the Marche Polytechnic University. In more detail, studies have been conducted on Imaging in high-gravity, with the aim of studying the effects of microgravity on the redistribution of bodily fluids, or to evaluate the impact of flight conditions on the cardiovascular and cerebral systems; studies of neural plasticity, That is to say, the study on the human nervous system's ability to modify its activity in response to intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli by reorganising its structure, functions or connections; studies researching circulating biomarkers during which flight personnel underwent the collection of biological samples such as blood, saliva and urine for the identification of circulating biomarkers whose fluctuations may be associated with the effect of suborbital flight; studies on the effect of microgravity on disc degeneration, with the aim of evaluating the impact of suborbital flight on the inflammatory and degenerative state of mesenchymal cells that make up the intervertebral discs, through post-flight cellular and molecular analyses; and studies on the effect of flight on tumour growth during which living biological systems, such as tumour brain cell cultures and healthy brain cells, will be subjected to cellular and molecular analyses.
The flight with Virgin Galactic it represented, among other things, an important opportunity for the Experimental Flight Department to learn about and evaluate the potential offered by sub-orbital platforms, with particular regard to the microgravity environment and possible areas of application.
The Department, through the GIAS (Engineering Group for Aero-Space) and GT (Technical Group) units, has long been involved in the study, research, and experimentation of new technologies related to suborbital and hypersonic flight. In particular, GIAS was able to derive valuable trajectory and attitude data from the VIRTUTE I mission. Spaceship for the validation of flight model designs, as well as for increasingly accurate scenario predictions for future scientific and operational uses. The WG also participated in the mission by designing and boarding a suborbital platform payload intended for the study of Motion sickness (chinetosi), having collected useful data for further developments on the subject.
The “Virtute 1” mission is the result of the Framework Agreement signed on 2nd October 2019 between the Italian Air Force and Virgin Galactic – in line with the Defence Space Plan and the document “Government Guidelines on Space and Aerospace matters” of 25th March 2019 – with the aim of increasing current knowledge in space and suborbital flight, with the support of the research and industry sectors, by verifying and evaluating the possible developments of currently available technologies.
The Air Force, with its wealth of expertise, is naturally poised to be able to value and protect the space environment, providing its unique competence in service of Defence and the Country. Through national programmes, bilateral cooperation and participation in industrial and research projects, the Armed Force is fully integrated into the National System and operates to guarantee the maintenance of excellence in the national Space and Aerospace sector. Among these programmes, space flight represents the extension of the air domain and a technological challenge in terms of scientific and entrepreneurial development.
In 2007, Col. Villadei was qualified as an instructor by the European Space Agency (ESA); in 2008 and 2009 he completed an initial training phase at the Russian “Yuri Gagarin” centre before achieving cosmonaut qualifications with top marks in 2012, advanced qualifications at the end of 2015, and maintaining his certifications at the end of 2019. He then continued his training as a professional astronaut with NASA, through Axiom, and in 2022 qualified as backup pilot for the Ax-2 mission. He has undertaken extreme analogue training activities, including centrifuge training, parabolic flights, NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School), survival training, flight training, and scuba diving. He qualified on Soyuz, ISS systems, and Orlan for EVA activities.
Lt Col Landolfi is an Italian Air Force doctor, also an expert in underwater and hyperbaric medicine, as well as forensic medicine and sciences. He trained as a flight surgeon within the cosmonaut training programme at Star City, Moscow. He is also an EASA aeromedical examiner and CRM trainer.
Engineer Pantaleone Carlucci has worked for the CNR for over 8 years in the field of engineering related to scientific instrumentation on flight platforms, with particular regard to the implementation of payload. He is responsible for the technical coordination of strategic projects on stratospheric platforms and air launch. He is a member of various coordination committees established within the framework of the agreements signed by the CNR with companies in the space and aerospace sector.
