A Homebrew Italian Space Program

Peter, VK3PB, alerted me to the six YouTube videos about the Judica Cordiglia brothers of Turin, Italy. These guys were young and enthusiastic amateurs when the space race began in the late 1950s. They quickly developed some very impressive monitoring facilities that allowed them to listen to both US and Soviet space missions.

Watch these videos and you will not only get a look at the technical work of these intrepid and skilled amateurs, but you will also get a sense of the many intangible things that make Italy such a special place. You'll get a sense of the human warmth, the friendship, the enthusiasm and fun that characterize life here.

They had the foresight to film a lot of their youthful technical adventures. The videos take us back to the Italy of the late '50s and early 60's. (That roof that they built their antenna on looks EXACTLY like mine!)

Don't miss these videos. They are really wonderful. Here are the links (if you have trouble, just search YouTube for "Space Hackers 1/6" "Space Hackers 2/6" etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F_67UAaG70
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-y2DuYNxm4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8sElZpvzRU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcGPXZPYHNs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9kiSMcrqRg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUT-eZH0860