Vatican Library uses space technology to preserve manuscripts

The Vatican and the European Space Agency have agreed to continue their collaboration on the management of the Vatican Library collection.

The declaration follows five years of cooperation in protecting documents held in the library, using the ‘flexible image transport system’ (FITS), technology which the Space Agency developed with NASA in the 1970s, and enabling the preservation and improved accessibility of historic manuscripts and codices.

Mgr Cesare Pasini, prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library, said: “Our collaboration is based on the common intention by our two institutions to promote the long-term preservation of images in electronic format.”