Italian Astronaut Paolo Nespoli: “Inter Coach Conte Is Like A NASA Flight Director”

Italian astronaut and Inter fan Paolo Nespoli spoke to Milano based newspaper la Gazzetta dello Sport today to discuss the famous photo of him wearing an Inter shirt in space and Antonio Conte’s leadership of the Nerazzurri.

First Nespoli spoke of his unusual way of becoming an Inter fan.

“Usually American astronauts wear football, basketball, baseball jerseys: they take a picture, then when they return to Earth the jersey is packaged and given to the team. I thought of doing the same with Inter. NASA doesn’t normally publish these photos for commercial reasons. They made a mistake with me. I had Inter’s shirt on when the commander put on the mission’s coat, he said to me ‘stay like this’ and I imagined that the photo would remain private. But NASA didn’t know about Inter… and so they made it public.”

He then discussed the shirt he was wearing in the photo.

“Yeah, it was the post-treble one. When people ask me about my support for Inter, I always say that that photo made me a god for 3% of the population and a devil for everyone else…”

The Italian astronaut also touched on the similarities between a football coach and the flight director.

“Of course. The responsibility for the missions is not in the hands of the astronauts. It all revolves around the flight director, the equivalent of the football coach. From the ground he gives instructions for the missions, which then have to be put into practice. Like in football: of course, there are people who score, but a coach who knows how to lead his men is fundamental. I don’t know Conte, but someone like that is needed.”

Finally, he spoke of Conte’s comments about the importance of teamwork and how that applies to his work as well.

“You couldn’t do an experiment if there wasn’t a complex job behind it. The stadium is not an isolated environment like space, but the adrenaline is just like that. Of course, if you miss a penalty you don’t physically die but the mistake has an incredible impact on your life and that of many others. In space you have the responsibility for your life and that of those around you and for the result of those who have worked so hard on the mission.”