Paola Sestito

Title: 
The World Space Observatory - Ultraviolet (WSO-UV) mission
Abstract:
The main design driver for the WSO-UV project is the need for a space facility to  carry out high resolution UV spectroscopy. The instrument will consist  of a 1.7 m  telescope in orbit, feeding a set of UV low and high spectral resolution spectrographs and imagers. 
The WSO-UV will be launched in 2015, and will provide astronomical data 
comparable to (and to be used in sinergy with) the exceptional HST heritage;  the mission will also benefit from the results of the GALEX survey mission. The high resolution capabilities of the WSO-UV will allow to perform a further step in the investigation of radial abundance gradients in the Galaxy, with the observation of several heavy elements features available only in the UV range and not in the visible.