Bioregenerative life support systems (BLSS) designed to produce food crops in future crewed missions to the Moon or Mars consider in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU). Lunar regolith is, therefore, in focus for future technologies of farming on lunar bases. We tested germination and early growth of broccoli plants (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis italica) in Murashige-Skoog liquid medium with addition of leachate from a lunar regolith simulant. As the additions to growth, differently diluted water and acidic leachates were used. Physiological status of the germinating plants was evaluated by chlorophyll fluorescence parameters related to plant vitality (relative fluorescence decline – Rfd) and photosynthetic performance of photosystem II (1) potential (FV/FM) and (2) effective quantum yield of PSII (ΦPSII), photochemical quenching referring to number of open PSII reaction centres. Both water and acidic leachates inhibited plant growth, however, the extent of growth limitation was dilution-dependent. Full inhibition of germination was apparent when undiluted acidic leachate was added. However, 50% dilution (and higher) resulted in seed germination and the early growth. No negative effects of the water dilutions on FV/FM as well as ΦPSII, were apparent in 15 days old plants, their cotyledonary and the first primary leaves, in particular. Similarly, qP and Rfd showed no sign of either water or acidic leachate addition effect. Although photosystem II-related parameters exhibited no negative effect of the leachates addition, a growth of plants was found dilution-dependent: higher degree of dilution resulted in a more pronounced reduction in plant projection area. In spite of the growth rate reduction (compared to untreated control), properly diluted water and acidic leachates from lunar regolith and/or its simulants might be used in follow up studies focused on plant species prospective for future cultivation in Moon-based stations with temporary or permanent crew.

“Il cielo in salotto” (in English, “The sky in your living room”) is a format for live streaming astronomical observations created by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF). The project started in late 2020 in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic to engage the general public and students with astronomy and space science remotely, when observatory visits were not possible. The format later evolved, in the “new normal” scenario, as a complementary activity to in-person events, featuring astronomical phenomena - such as planet alignments, eclipses, different Moon phases, comets, sunspots, exoplanet-hosting stars - observed live by the INAF network of telescopes all around the country. These events are enriched by live interviews with INAF researchers and supported by large-scale public engagement campaigns conducted together with space enthusiasts, amateur astronomy associations and other partners. Viewers can ask questions live to the experts and also select some of the targets to observe. We present lessons learnt and best practices from three and a half years running the project, along with some of the technical and logistics, content and communication solutions adopted in the format of potential interest to colleagues organising similar events in other countries. We also discuss the results of a focus group conducted for three years in a row during the summer “SuperMoon” broadcasts, a regular programme taking advantage of the popularity of this event in the news to cover current topics in planetary science.

This study analyzes the motion of bodies ejected from the Earth or the Moon. We studied the ejection of bodies from several points on the Earth’s surface, as well as from the most far point of the Moon from the Sun. Different velocities and angles of ejection of bodies were considered. The dynamical lifetimes of bodies reached a few hundred million years. Over the entire considered time interval, the values of the probability of a collision of a body ejected from the Earth with the Earth were approximately 0.3, 0.2, and 0.15–0.2 at an ejection velocity υej equaled to 11.5, 12, and 14 km/s, respectively. At υej≤11.3 km/s, most of the ejected bodies fell back onto the Earth. The total number of bodies delivered to the Earth and Venus probably did not differ much. The probabilities of collisions of bodies with Mercury and Mars usually did not exceed 0.1 and 0.02, respectively. At υej ≥11.5 km/s, the probability of a collision of a body ejected from the Earth with the Moon was about 15–35 times less than that with the Earth, and it was about 0.01. The probability of a collision with the Earth for a body ejected from the Moon moving in its present orbit was about 0.3–0.32, 0.2–0.22, and 0.1–0.14 at υej =2.5 km/s, υej =5 km/s, and at 12≤ υej ≤16.4 km/s, respectively.

This article asks what Paul’s claims about cosmology signify in terms of his competitive position on the nature and purpose of the moon. Specifically, in an age in which discourses and demonstrations involving the moon were rife, I argue that Paul is invoking principals shared by writers like Plutarch on the “double death” of the human being (first as soma on the earth, then as psyche/nous in orbit around and on the moon) and that he envisions an afterlife among the stars in pneumatic form that, to the degree it is anthropomorphic, is ideally male. I also posit that this aspect of Paul’s thought has been overlooked, in part due to the idiosyncratic-yet-pervasive translation of doxa in Paul as “glory” rather than in terms related to typologies and judgment, as it is elsewhere in Greek philosophical literature.

In this work I will present some results of my post-graduation masters thesis in 2017. The vocational masters title was “Intercultural Studies, theory and practice for the reception of asylum seekers”. The whole work is based upon a specific activity of public outreach for astronomy with a group of Imams from different Islamic countries, which is an undoubtedly underrepresented group in Europe.

Even though there are more than six million Muslim refugees (most of them from Syria or sub-Saharan Africa) in Italy, they are very often discriminated for their ethnicity, culture and religion; we hence have had difficulties in communicating because of a language barrier and gap in basic scientific knowledge. But the differences are more complex and subtler than these. This is the reason why I tried to do a psycho-sociological analysis of this meeting, going deep into the field of intercultural studies and stressing those aspects as-related to stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination.

The activity began on Ramadan on 27 May 2017, and was repeated one year later on 16 May 2018.

While doing the report and the analysis of these meetings I stressed not only the astronomical concepts but also the aspects of social psychology that are particularly relevant to intercultural communication, as a greater understanding of certain socio-psychological concepts may increase the effectiveness of such POE activities.

In 1679, the astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini published a large print detailing the entire visible surface of the moon with unprecedented meticulousness. This Grand Selenography is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular pictures ever produced within the Académie royale des sciences. However, it has remained widely neglected by historians up to now. This study offers the first account of the making and early reception of the print. It argues that the Grand Selenography remains uncompleted because it failed to satisfy Cassini and his contemporaries. Furthermore, its history allows us to shed new light on the range of issues that scientific pictures might have raised during Louis XIV’s reign.

Migration of bodies under the gravitational influence of almost formed planets was studied, and probabilities of their collisions with the Earth and other terrestrial planets were calculated. Based on the probabilities, several conclusions on the accumulation of the terrestrial planets have been made. The outer layers of the Earth and Venus could accumulate similar planetesimals from different regions of the feeding zone of the terrestrial planets. The probabilities of collisions of bodies during their dynamical lifetimes with the Earth could be up to 0.001-0.01 for some initial semi-major axes between 3.2 and 3.6 AU, whereas such probabilities did not exceed 10−5 at initial semi-major axes between 12 and 40 AU. The total mass of water delivered to the Earth from beyond Jupiter’s orbit could exceed the mass of the Earth’s oceans. The zone of the outer asteroid belt could be one of the sources of the late-heavy bombardment. The bodies that came from the zone of Jupiter and Saturn typically collided with the Earth and the Moon with velocities from 23 to 26 km/s and from 20 to 23 km/s, respectively.

We suggest an advanced algorithm for semi-analytical calculation of orbital perturbations of Earth artificial satellites caused by the gravity attraction of the “3rd-bodies” (the Moon, the Sun, major planets). A new accurate analytical series for the relevant perturbation function is developed. It is obtained through a careful spectral analysis of the long-term DE406 planetary/lunar ephemerides and valid over 2000 years, 1000-3000. The series is used in the author’s semi-analytical model of satellite motion. The results of the motion prediction of several Earth satellites obtained by means of the semi-analytical model and a numerical integration method are compared.

On the occasion of celebration of moon landing (2019) we designed a set of educational activities for the youngest, based on the moon. We wanted to talk, play and engage young people reflecting and enjoying different points of view and demystifying the idea of science and scientists in a personal and meaningful journey. After this year of experimentation we also engaged with public schools co-designing and tailoring those activities despite the current sanitarian crisis. We will describe a physical artifact called ‘Lunatario’ and its 3d printable version together with cross-disciplinary educational activities and our tentative documentation. We will also describe how, with the help of a very diverse team, we embedded other media in our moon exploration working in particular with picture books and animation. We believe this is a great way to deeply engage young people with STEAM in a democratic way.

Students took an assembly-type telescope kit from a public elementary school and brought it to their homes in 2019. Three classes attempted to observe the Moon at home using the Kaifu-NAOJ Telescope Kit. As a result, all children observed the Moon at home using the kit. From their observations, around 90% identified the existence of craters and understood the reflection of sunlight on the Moon’s surface. As Covid-19 prevention measures in education, we propose the introduction of at-home telescopic observations for STEAM activities.