A dot from the sky, Venice and its islands, so far away, but at the same time so close. So beautiful seen from that sky just like Samantha Cristoforetti has always dreamt of.
Now that she is up there, the Murano glass masters wanted to thank her for the picture of the city she tweeted and sent all around the world.
The island of Murano was moved by that image of Venice and Murano, and by her a special dedication: Hello #Venice from #space! I have flown in the area many times, but never quite as high!
Promovetro’s Murano glass master Pino Signoretto was inspired by this message, and he realised a “Stellar Gondola” for the first Italian woman in space.
Murano and the deep space; The glass masters feel close to this woman, because working in extreme conditions, even if in different situations, they all contribute to give a positive image of Italy. The asteroid “15006 Samcristoforetti” is dedicated to her.
“We wanted to thank in our very special way this woman, engineer and astrounat, pride of the Italian excellence – says the President of Consorzio Promovetro, Luciano Gambaro. Our glass artwork is a thank to the gift she made to our city, showing Venice to the whole world, from such an amazing distance. In that picture one can also see Murano, our island, the island of glass.
We are proud to share with her this incredible experience”.
The Stellar Gondola is in Murano Glass, created by “free hand” technique. The hull is black glass, while planets are in transparent and coloured glass. It is based on a aquamarine glass surface and it is decorated with tiny silvery straws.
Samantha Cristoforetti left the earth on 23 November 2014 form Baikonur (Kazakistan) to reach the International Space Station (ISS) on the spaceship Soyuz.
Futura is the name of the European Space Agency’s mission, the first long lasting Italian one.
A Russian and an American astronauts are with Cap. Cristoforetti; she is the first Italian woman to go into space.