Tradition and innovation, but also, and above all, research.
On its world tour, the Amerigo Vespucci also becomes a gigantic mobile laboratory, one of the few capable of collecting constant data and information crossing every corner of the globe.
For this reason, for twenty days a device from the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) for the detection of cosmic rays has been installed on board.
The ‘running in’ was completed by the researcher of the Institute Davide Serini, embarked on the sailing ship from Darwin to Singapore.
Over two thousand miles of navigation were useful for studying and collecting data for an unprecedented piece of research that could have historical implications.
“We installed this object that measures cosmic rays, the particles that come from space and that allow us to understand the mysteries of the universe,” says Serini, who also kept a logbook on social media during the trip.
“The usefulness of installing it on the ship comes from the fact that these particles are i
nfluenced by the Earth’s magnetic field, by latitude and longitude, that is, by the position of the ship”.
The detector will remain on board until the end of the Vespucci’s world tour, when it will reach the port of Genoa in June 2025.
“The device will continue to collect data 24 hours a day,” explains Mario Nicola Mazziotta, also a researcher at the INFN.
“As soon as we have access to the internet from the ship, they will then be transferred to our servers to study and analyze them”.
“Being on board the Vespucci is a truly unique opportunity,” continues Mazziotta, “because the ship during its route will intercept very particular areas to study cosmic rays.
“It is a unique opportunity that is also giving us satisfaction.
“From Darwin to Singapore, for example, we have observed the effect of the sun on cosmic rays, which has given us unexpected and unprecedented results for the first time”.
After the first month of navigation, therefore, the detector – built by the Bari section of the INFN – will remain
on board without assistance, continuing to send data to land that will allow researchers to carry out a complex study with potential “historic results”.
This is all in the tradition of the Vespucci being at the service of research innovation, this time for an encounter that is, one might say, “space-like”.
Source: Ansa News Agency
