Umberto Guidoni

{{short description|Italian astronaut and politician (born 1954)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Umberto Guidoni | honorific_suffix = [[Order of Merit of the Italian Republic|OMRI]] | image = Umberto_Guidoni_portrait.jpg | caption = Guidoni in 2001 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1954|8|18|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Rome]], Italy | office1 = [[Member of the European Parliament]] | term_start1 = 20 July 2004 | term_end1 = 13 July 2009 | party = [[Party of Italian Communists]] (2004-2009)<ref name=pdci1>''Il Giornalino''. ''[http://www.ilgiornalino.net/home/politica/928-guidoni-lascia-il-pdci.html Guidoni lascia il PdCI]{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}''</ref> | occupation = [[Astrophysics|Astrophysicist]], Science writer | module = {{Infobox astronaut | child = yes | type = [[Italian Space Agency|ASI]]/[[ESA]] astronaut | rank = | selection = [[List of astronauts by selection#1989|1989 ASI Group]]/[[List of astronauts by selection#1996|1996 NASA Group (16)]] | space_time = 27d 15h 12m | missions = [[STS-75]], [[STS-100]] | insignia = [[Image:Sts-75-patch.png|45px]][[Image:STS-100 patch.svg|45px]] | retirement = June 2004 }} }}

'''Umberto Guidoni''' (born 18 August 1954 in [[Rome]]) is an Italian astrophysicist, science writer and a former [[ESA]] [[astronaut]], being the first European to visit the [[International Space Station]]. He is a veteran of two [[NASA]] [[Space Shuttle]] missions. He was also a [[Member of the European Parliament]] (MEP) from 2004 to 2009, with the Group of the European United Left ([[GUE/NGL]]).

==Biography==

===Career and spaceflights===

Guidoni earned a doctorate in astrophysics from the [[Sapienza University of Rome|University of Rome ''La Sapienza'']] in 1978 and worked in the [[Italian Space Agency]] (ASI) as well as in the [[European Space Agency]] (ESA). One of his research projects was the [[Tethered Satellite System]], which was part of the payload of the [[STS-46]] mission. Guidoni trained as an alternate payload specialist for that mission and made his first spaceflight aboard the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' [[STS-75]] in 1996, which included the second flight of the TSS system (TSS-1R).

In 2001, Guidoni participated in the Space Shuttle's [[STS-100]] mission, being the first European on board<ref>[http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Welcome_to_ESA/Shuttle_mission_carries_first_European_to_Space_Station (ESA Page)]</ref> [[International Space Station]] (ISS).[[File:STS100 EU flag.jpg|thumb|First European on board the ISS shows EU flag]] On that flight, the Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'' carried the ''Raffaello'' Multi-Purpose Logistics Module for its maiden flight as well as the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), the Canadian robotic arm used extensively to assemble the ISS.

===ESA career===

In September 2001, Guidoni was assigned to ESA's [[European Space Research and Technology Centre]] (ESTEC) as crew support for the payloads to be developed for the [[Columbus (ISS module)|Columbus]] Laboratory. ''Columbus'' and its payloads are the European contribution to the scientific research performed on board the International Space Station. He retired from active astronaut status in June 2004.

===Member of the European Parliament===

In June 2004 Guidoni was elected to the [[European Parliament]], in the [[GUE-NGL|Group of the European United Left]] (GUE/NGL). He was a member of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), and substitute of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI), and the Temporary Committee on Climate Change. He has been rapporteur for the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) for Research and Innovation. He also proposed the amendment 16 to protect the freedom of the press from the strict application of the EU directive ([[IPRED2]]) on criminal measures aimed at ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property rights.<ref>[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?Type=REPORT&Reference=A6-2007-0073&language=EN IPRED2 Directive (emend.16 on fair use)]</ref>

Guidoni joined the [[Party of Italian Communists]] (PdCI) around 2004.<ref name=pdci1/> He led a tendency within PdCI called '[[Unite the Left]]'.<ref>''Il Fatto Quotidiano''. ''[https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2014/01/29/cera-una-volta-la-sinistra-arcobaleno/861330/ C’era una volta la Sinistra Arcobaleno]''</ref> Guidoni left PdCI in 2009.<ref name=pdci1/>

===Present activity===

[[File:Guidoni-ESRIN Open Day 2011.jpg|thumb|Umberto Guidoni 2011 (ESA-ESRIN, Frascati)]]

In 2007 was the speaker of the radio program entitled “From the Sputnik to the Shuttle” (the series "At 8 in the evening" by Radio Rai 2), in which he retraced the main steps of the Space Era. In 2009, he presented another cycle of the same series where he narrated the epic history of the Apollo lunar missions. Starting from this program, in 2011, was published the book “From the Earth to the Moon”.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.youblisher.com/p/100479-Dalla-Terra-alla-Luna-Il-progetto-Apollo-40-anni-dopo-Umberto-Guidoni/ |title=Dalla Terra alla Luna - From the Earth to the Moon |access-date=2 August 2012 |archive-date=7 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107175243/http://www.youblisher.com/p/100479-Dalla-Terra-alla-Luna-Il-progetto-Apollo-40-anni-dopo-Umberto-Guidoni/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Guidoni is involved in popularizing science and organizes events related to space. He has written articles and books including books for children such as "Martino on Mars", "Astrolibro" and the most recent published in 2019: "Voglio la LUNA" and "Guida per Giovani Astronauti".

== Honours ==

{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Commendatore_OMRI_BAR.svg|width=80}} On 15 April 1996, Guidoni was appointed Commander of the [[Order of Merit of the Italian Republic]]<ref name="ReferenceA">[[Order of Merit of the Italian Republic]]</ref> by [[Oscar Luigi Scalfaro]], President of Italy.

{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=ITA OMRI 2001 GUff BAR.svg|width=80}} On 11 May 2001, he was promoted to Grand Officer of the [[Order of Merit of the Italian Republic]]<ref name="ReferenceA"/> by [[Carlo Azeglio Ciampi]], President of Italy.

{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=SpaceFltRib.svg|width=80}} For his first orbital flight ([[STS-75]]) in 1996, Guidoni also received the [[NASA Space Flight Medal]]

{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=SpaceFltRib.svg|width=80}} A second ''Space Flight Medal'' was awarded after his second space flight of 2001 ([[STS-100]]).

{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=USA_-_NASA_Excep_Rib.png|width=80}} For his achievements in space, Guidoni received the [[NASA Exceptional Service Medal]] in 2002.

The [[asteroid]] [[10605 Guidoni]]<ref>[http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=10605+Guidoni JPL Small Bodies Database]</ref> discovered by V. Giuliani e F. Manca on 1996.

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Umberto Guidoni}} * [http://www.umbertoguidoni.it Personal site of Umberto Guidoni] * [http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Astronauts/Umberto_Guidoni ESA profile page] * [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/international/english/guidoni_umberto.htm Spacefacts biography of Umberto Guidoni] * [http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/28974/Umberto_GUIDONI.html Umberto Guidoni at the European Parliament]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guidoni, Umberto}} [[Category:1954 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Astronaut-politicians]] [[Category:Italian astronauts]] [[Category:Sapienza University of Rome alumni]] [[Category:MEPs for Italy 2004–2009]] [[Category:Space Shuttle program astronauts]]