The Holy See will send a nanobook into space next June. A way for the Vatican to spread the message of hope addressed to the world on March 27, 2020 at the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic on a planetary scale.
A prayer by Pope Francis in space. This is the object of the Spei Satelles (SpeiSat) mission which will put a small satellite into orbit, containing the nanobook entitled Why are you so fearful? Don’t you have faith yet? inspired by the pope’s message (Orbis Station) of March 27, 2020, shared during the Covid-19 pandemic. It will leave the earth on June 10, 2023, carried by a Falcon 9 rocket which will take off from the Vandemberg base in California, in the United States.
SpeiSat will operate “in low Earth orbit, at an altitude of approximately 525 km”. The space mission Spei Satelliteswhich can be translated as “satellite of hope”, but which in Latin means “keeper of hope”, says the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, was announced on March 27 by Msgr. Lucio Adrián Ruiz, Secretary of the Dicastery for Communication.
The Italian Space Agency coordinates the mission helping Pope’s words “to cross the borders of the Earth and (To) reach, from space, as many women and men as possible on our planet in difficulty”, said President Giorgio Saccoccia in the Vatican statement (link in englishs). Spei Satelles thus intends “to carry the message and the call (to hope) formulated” by the sovereign pontiff for humanity, we explain to the Holy See. The satellite and the nanobook, which it carries, will be blessed on May 29 by Pope Francis, before the final technical adjustments. In the meantime, here is what we know about this literary and spatial adventure.
Why a message from the pope in space?
The space mission was set up to commemorate and amplify the prayer presided over by Pope Francis on the forecourt of Saint Peter’s Basilica on March 27, 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Pope Francis goes up to St. Peter’s Square in Rome, alone, in the rain, in the dark of the evening, to pray with and for all humanity hit by the Coronavirus”, we recall on the site of the mission. “That moment has remained etched in our memories and our hearts, forever and in history, and has become an icon of hope.”
From book to nanobook
The pope’s message gave rise to a work entitled Why are you afraid? You don’t have faith? published in 2021. According to L’Osservatore Romano, the book was printed in 150,000 copies and in seven languages. One year later, a “mini” edition (10 x 8 cm) of the book, baptized seed of hope (Seed of Hope), was filed at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (the Svalbard Global Seed Vault) on the Norwegian island of Spiztberg. Thanks to the National Research Council (CNR) in Italy, thehe text is now a nanobook, i.e. “the images, speeches and readings of the moment of prayer celebrated by Pope Francis on March 27, 2020” were engraved on a 2x2x0.2 mm silicon plate. As it is impossible to print “on a support so small, it was necessary to use a ‘code’ : the digital contents of the paper book have been translated via binary code”. This concentrate of technology travels in space thanks to a small satellite, a 3U CubeSat.
A space mission
“Spei Satelles” (SpeiSat) weighs less than 3kg and its dimensions are as follows: 34x10x10 cm. Outside, it is covered with solar panels which produce the electricity it needs to function. Besides the nanobook and a file “with all the messages of hope to spread during his journey”SpeiSat contains two on-board computers, two UHF band communication systems, a battery to store energy, magnets”to stabilize the satellite after launch” as well as probes.
A nod to young people
Spei Satelles is “a project which, in its originality, makes the youngest dream”, can we read on the mission’s website. Young people who can be found at several stages of the project. Especially in the technical part. The CubeSat was made by students, under the direction of Professor Sabrina Corpino, from the Politecnico di Torino.
“We all need hope, especially young peoplesummed up Archbishop Roberto Repole of Turin. Keeping hope alive is the mission of this satellite designed and built by young people; told by young people in the logo of the mission; inhabited – we hope – by many young people who will want to engage with the Pope, through the site, to sow hope and fraternity where they live.”
A global adventure
Spei Satelles wants to be a participative and planetary adventure. The site will not only make it possible to follow the journey of the satellite but it also offers to have its name “fly around the earth” thanks to this space travel. The proposal is as follows and is aimed particularly at young people: “becoming a guardian of hope with Pope Francis”. Those who wish to do so must complete a form, available on the site, and commit “to carry out a good deed on earth, to spread hope and fraternity”. They will get their symbolic boarding pass but above all their name written on a chip that will be on board the SpeiSat.
Also, in space, the satellite will transmit a radio signal that can be picked up easily with “simple equipment”, assures one on the site of the project. It will contain “of the messages of hope from the Pope”.