Space, Italian food flies to the moon: ‘launch pad’ in Luxembourg

Italian food flies into orbit with destination the Moon and the ‘launch pad’ is in Luxembourg. The Italian embassy in the Grand Duchy has in fact decided to promote Italian agri-food excellence by combining them with high space technology to transform them into recipes to be enjoyed in microgravity. “Italian foods such as Parmigiano Reggiano have always been present in extreme environments for their quality and ability to withstand over time and, in view of the next mission to the Moon, this time we wanted to create starred recipes made in Italy designed with ingredients that they can be grown in space greenhouses “anticipates to Adnkronos the Italian ambassador to the Grand Duchy, Diego Brasioli who next Wednesday promotes the event” Italian Food in the Space “in Luxembourg via streaming on the occasion of the sixth Week of Italian Cuisine in the World which this year has as its theme the “Tradition and perspectives of Italian cuisine: awareness and enhancement of environmental sustainability”. “The idea of ​​space recipes also arises from the intense collaboration on space activities between Italy and Luxembourg and in view of the NASA Artemis program that will bring man back to the moon but our project also looks to the exploration of Mars, to when a human being will go to the red planet “Brasioli still anticipates that on the 24th he will talk about this ‘space challenge’ with Professor Valentina Sumini of the Milan Polytechnic, the Italian ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, and the starred Chef Ilario Mosconi who literally invented gourmet space recipes that can be made and consumed in weightlessness. “As today, at the end of November, the Foreign Ministry promotes the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World and the embassies are called to promote it and this year the specific theme is sustainability. Here, we decided to bring together cuisine, tradition, technology and innovation in the wake of sustainability “adds Brasioli explaining that” the conference – promoted in collaboration with the Italian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce – is dedicated to food in space and has the title “Italian Food in Space. New technologies and traditional quality products for sustainability and nutritional well-being in outer space ‘. At the center is the Italian contribution to the Mediterranean Diet and the well-being of astronauts, with particular reference to the sustainability of food crops in the future lunar base. “” There is an Italian tradition of national food in extreme environments, when I was in Pakistan – Brasioli recalls – there were many expeditions carrying foodstuffs suitable for eating at high and very high altitudes and some products were Italian such as Parmigiano Reggiano and / or bresaola, products that do not perish easily “. Italy and Luxembourg underlines,” are the only two countries of the European Union are part of the Artemis project, the program developed by NASA, US commercial space flight companies and other international partners including the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and ESA, with the aim of to land the first woman and the next man on the moon by 2024 “. During the conference on the 24th, the Italian researcher Valentina Sumini , Visiting Professor at the Politecnico di Milano and Research Affiliate at the Mit Media Lab, presents to a specialized parterre made up of economic and scientific operators, his studies on hydroponic greenhouses on the surface of the Moon and Mars, which have recently won the “Nasa Big Idea Challenge “. Chef Ilario Mosconi of the Michelin-starred Luxembourg restaurant of the same name unveils his original “Food in Space” recipe, based on the ingredients of the hydroponic greenhouse and cooked with special techniques, promoting the nutritional profiles of the Italian culinary tradition and authentic quality of its products. The meeting was also attended by astronaut Luca Parmitano, the first Italian Commander of the International Space Station, to tell his personal experience on eating habits in orbit and to illustrate the challenges and new opportunities offered by space exploration. The conference will also be attended by astrophysicist Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (Unoosa), and Professor Antonino Salmeri of the University of Luxembourg. In view of the space event, Fabio Morvilli, president of the Italo-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, also wanted to explain that “within the Italian System, CCIL promotes, with the Italian Embassy, ​​food in space through the implementation of artificial intelligence, a sector in which the Luxembourg market attracts many tried and tested companies and numerous start-ups, including those of Italian origin “. Giorgio Saccoccia, president of the Italian Space Agency, Marc Serres, president of the Luxembourg Space Agency (Lsa) and Cecilia Piccioni, Deputy Director General of the Country System-Central Director for the promotion of culture and Italian language of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, to underline the action of the country system in the promotion and protection of the Italian agri-food sector, in connection with sectors with a high technological and scientific content. (by Andreana d’Aquino)