Who was the first citizen of Italy to travel to space, Franco Malerba or Philippe Perrin?
Franco Malerba Franco Egidio Malerba (born October 10, 1946, in Busalla, Metropolitan City of Genoa, Italy) is an astronaut. He was the first citizen of Italy to travel to space.
Luna 1 Luna 1, also known as Mechta (Russian: "Мечта" , "lit.": "Dream"), E-1 No.4 and "First Lunar Rover ", was the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Earth's Moon, and the first spacecraft to be placed in heliocentric orbit. Intended as an impactor, "Luna 1" was launched as part of the Soviet Luna programme in 1959, however due to an incorrectly timed upper stage burn during its launch, it missed the Moon, in the process becoming the first spacecraft to leave geocentric orbit.