A few days ago I've finished reading astronaut Umberto Guidoni's "Un passo fuori" (A Step Outside), a beautifully written book about his life. It was published by Editori Laterza GLF, Italy, in 2006. Up to this date there seems to be no English version of it, at least in Amazon.com. Sorry English speaking "space geeks", you will have to learn Italian!
To those who have no idea about him -too many Italians don’t- he is not only one of Italy's first astronauts but also the first European to “step on” the International Space Station. He’s a family man and a scientist with a degree in Physics from “La Sapienza” University Of Rome and, as far as I can see, he’s got the same passion for science and exploration he’s got for Italy and its finest traditions. He is a man Italians should feel real proud of, someone people should pay so much attention to.
I gladly think of him as "our neighbourhood astronaut" (il nostro astronauta del quartiere!) because that's the impression I had first time I saw him. Quiet, still, almost as if he was trying to be completely invisible to the people around him, just an ordinary guy calmly taking every step. And yet he had soared above the sky at 28000 km/h and climbed as high as 350 km above the Earth, towards the realm of space!
It was in Rome where I met him, a few years ago, at that peace demonstration that happened simultaneously in big cities all around the planet, when the second war in Iraq began. I met him just by chance in a journey with so many mixed feelings and a lot of deception for seeing some Italian people carrying huge placards asking for support to “revolutionary movements” in Colombia. I was born in Colombia, I'm sure most of these Italian guys (if not all of them) had never been there and yet they arrogantly defended their slogans, as if they'd ever seen what is happening down there. Their attitude made no sense to me, and seeing them and their behavior, made me really sad.
Luckily, something better was about to happen to me that day: at some point of the demonstration -in which thank God there were plenty of people with more brains than those idiots whose display really disturbed me- I found myself walking aside one of my greatest living heroes! Holy cow! I was walking on the streets of Rome aside Astronaut Umberto Guidoni! I got so excited I’m sure I must have said so many stupid things to him when I shoke his hand! A twenty-something year-old “kid” meeting one of his favourite heroes! Imagine that! I still remeber my excitement! I guess I will never grow up!
His book is more than you could imagine. For “space geeks” like me it is a mandatory book because it’s a very good description of his adventure as an astronaut, magically depicting his experience using the simplest words and often letting the writer know his opinions as a foreigner in the American space program. It’s so well written that there are moments you do feel you are sitting right there in the cockpit of the shuttle, stuffed in the space suit, seeing with your own eyes all those screens and computers of the flight deck around you.
For normal people (that is, “non space geeks”) it’s a fun and inspiring book to read. I would give this book to kids or youngsters, it could be very encouraging, it can truly touch you! I think Dr. Guidoni is truly an ordinary man, the guy next to you at the bar having a cup of coffee or someone you just see on the train. In the book he shows that he’s got the heart of a dreamer and a stubborn determination to accomplish goals while dealing with everyday issues and problems we all have to deal with. He accomplished goals that most people in these days consider impossible, completely useless to try or even to think about.
As we approach the end of the book he details his new experiences back in Europe –after more than ten years living in America- and the beginning of a political career as an Italian representative at the European Parliament. When I first saw his campaign ads I was quite confused to know which political party he was representing. But as I read about his job in the book and after truly studying his ideas, political points of view, opinions, and dreams in it, I have to say that I have an even better opinion about him. His ideas are clearly based in historical facts, and his scientific background definitively seems to be at the core of his opinions. I do not like pretty much the fact that he represents a political party I have so many doubts about but I guess you just can get “up there” in the world of politics on your own. I truly hope –and pray- his compromises with that political party will never blind that wonderful view he has about the world, its problems, and the dreams of a unified “Spaceship Earth”. He appears to me as an individual with great coherent ideas, let’s just hope he can put to work as many of them as possible!
The book on my desk together with some astronauts and the shuttle
Astronaut Umberto Guidoni on board ISS - April 23rd 2001
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