Page 39 - Italy In Space
P. 39
Interplanetary Probes [6]
December 19, 2013. Lsunch of GAIA, the ESA star-mapping spacecraft is launched from Kourou. It
aims at creating a 3D map of 1 billion astronomical objects (1% of the Milky Way population).
December 19, 2013. ALTEC MCC starts GAIA operations. For 7 years it will be responbible for the
Turin-based DPCT, one of the six European Data Processing Centres. As the operational arm of ASI,
ALTEC is also in charge of providing the overall HW, SW infrastructure and DB required for running
the scientific SW components for the programme. Commemorative covers cancelled with a special
postmark in Turin, Italy where the ALTEC Mission Control Center is based.
38
