Podcast

Intro:

Hello Giulia, Thank you for agreeing to podcast with us. How fantastic it is to get to know you today. We can’t wait to listen to your story and see how and why you came that you chose to be an astronaut and an author.

 

Q1:

We understand that you became a novelist by the age of 18 year young. This is quite an achievement. I bet that this was a dream come true for you. Do you believe that dreams can indeed come true?

 

Q2:

There is a famous designer here in England called Sir Paul Smith. He makes clothes and says that inspiration is everywhere. What inspires you and brings you new ideas?

 

Q3:

You clearly have so many ideas. This must be true because you’ve written so many cool books. When you get ideas that come to you, how do you organise them and make sense of what it means to you? What top tips do you have for dealing with our ideas as we grow older?

 

Q4:

I like reading. I’ve seen that you wrote 2 novels at the age of 18 years young. What age did you start to write your first two novels? Did you have any top tips. Did you have any time for yourself when you were young? I can’t even imagine writing a book and skipping my childhood. I’m young now, and I would rather play Roblox and go to the park. I’m interested in your thoughts about that.

 

Q5:

I love Novels. My favourite novel type is Harry Potter. What is yours? Would you rather fiction or non-fiction books?

 

Q6:

Do you enjoy reading, and I am curious if you find inspiration from  reading other authors’ books? Does reading affect your writing style and skills?

 

Q7:

Giulia, you are studying with the aim of having a career as an astronaut. Where does the passion for space come from? I would like to ask you what advice would you give to those who, like you, have the same aspiration, and maybe they don’t know how or where to start?

 

Q8:

Everything I know about space is what I have watched in movies, or I have read in books. Can you confirm that an astronaut’s life is made of commitment, that you must be courageous and determined? What drives you to undertake this kind of extraordinary challenge? You insoire us with your sense of what can be achieved as a human race, but also as individuals. 

 

Q9:

My mum and I listened to your Italian TED talk, and in that occasion you told us, that subjects like maths and physics were too hard for you to achieve successfully. And now, you are studying to be an aerospace engineer! Can you tell us about that aspect of your school experience?

 

Q10:

Giulia, we read that you can speak Russian, French, Italian and English. This is very impressive, indeed. I can speak fluently in only two languages. These are Lithuanium and English. Did you know that Lithuanium is the oldest language in Europe? What are your top tips for learning how to speak another language? 

 

Q11:

You have inspired us by being a master of the art of debating. We have been studying how to do this in class. Do you think that we could ever hold a debate from space? If so, we wonder what would happen to our voices? Would they just disappear into the solar system?  We wonder whether anyone would ever really hear what we were saying? Is there life and room for debate beyond planet earth?

 

Outro:

 

About

Giulia (Turin, January 1st, 1999) is an Italian student of aerospace engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin. She got her bachelor's degree in 2021 and is now specializing in aerospace systems engineering.

Through 2021 and 2022 she was a visiting scholar at the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science (BMSIS) of Seattle to research on cosmic radiation and write the paper "Crewed Missions to Mars: Modelling the Impact of Astrophysical Charged Particles on Astronauts and Their Health" sent to Space Science Reviews in January 2023, under the guidance of Dr. Dimitra Atri, and to research on sustainability to write the paper "Study on the sustainability of space settlements on the Moon and Mars" still in progress. In 2020 she also attended an online astrobiology 7-weeks course at the Amity University of Mumbai.

In 2022 she started writing monthly articles for D - La Repubblica to foster women in aerospace.

In 2021 she published two non-fictions in Italy on space exploration with a science communication purpose. "Sognavo le stelle" with Il Saggiatore, and "Elon Musk e SpaceX: Obiettivo Marte" with Kenness Editore.

In February 2020, she held a TEDxTalk in Turin, upon invitation of TEDxTorino.

In December 2018 she went to Kourou, French Guyana, upon invitation by ArianeGroup and ESA, to watch a launch of an Ariane 5 rocket.

Author of "Ad Martem 12" (2017), science fiction about the first human beings ever born on planet Mars and based on scientific studies, and of "Kalopsia" (2020), dystopian action/love story of young pilots set in a military setting. Both self-published in English and Italian, her native language.

In June 2019 she was nominated National Coordinator for Italy of the MVA - Moon Village Association, a global non-governmental organization founded in Vienna in 2017 with the purpse to foster the realization of a Moon village and the future human Moon missions.

In 2016 she won the international semi-finals of the Odysseus Space Contest, presenting her project of an autonomous space base on Mars in front of an international jury of experts, at the Euro Space Center in Transinne (Belgium).

In 2015 she was selected to take part in the ESO Astronomy Camp to spend one week at the Observatory of Saint Barthélemy in Aosta Valley with other 50 international participants, doing night observations and data analysis.

Following her passion for foreign languages, she is self-learning Russian and Chinese.