LIFE Photo Collection
Looking towards far away cities
Notables rushed from every corner of Venice to discover the instrument and point it toward distant towns, islands and galleys at sea.
LIFE Photo Collection
Seeing the universe
But something different was going on in Galileo’s mind: he was the first to systematically point a telescope towards the heavens, changing the way we see the Universe.
Moon Pictures by Ralph MorseLIFE Photo Collection
The collapse of certainties
Galileo’s first telescopic observations of the Moon paved the way for discoveries that would cast doubt upon centuries-old beliefs.
Galileo 1514-1642 LifeLIFE Photo Collection
A big event
Many contemporary documents describe Galileo’s public demonstration as an incredible and amazing event.
Galileo 1514-1642 LifeLIFE Photo Collection
From defense to exploration
Although the Senate’s interest in the telescope was motivated by defense purposes, they welcomed Galileo and supported his research—even when it rapidly transcended the material purpose to explore the sky.
The rise of new ideas
Galileo’s observations swept the previous conception of heavens as the realm of perfection away. The Moon was in fact not spherical and, with its scarred surface, hardly perfect.
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Beyond the limits
Galileo’s revolutionary thought embodies the spirit of scientific discovery and started here, in Piazza San Marco. The conquest of the sky is among mankind’s efforts to surpass their own limits, where the Moon was the first challenge – and it still is.
LIFE Photo Collection
The Galileo project
Today, the ASI – Italian Space Agency is a main actor in the GALILEO project, a satellite navigation and tracking system entirely designed for civilian use that can offer a positioning accuracy of less than 10 cm, a precision never before achieved. A system that is not subject to the limitations or interruptions typical of other systems designed for military purposes, starting with the American GPS.
