First woman in Europe and third in the world to hold the role of commander of the International Space Station after two Americans. Samantha Cristoforetti will fly to the ISS in the spring of 2022, for the Expedition 68a mission. The announcement came today from the European Space Agency (ESA), which also reports the first statement of its astronaut: “Returning to the international space station to represent Europe is in itself an honor. I am honored by the appointment of commander and I am looking forward to drawing on the experience I have gained in space and on Earth to lead a very capable team into orbit. “
As a member of crew-4, Cristoforetti will leave together with NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren e Bob Hines from Florida, USA, on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, the creature of Elon Musk which paved the way for private human transport to the station.
Samantha Cristoforetti, name on social media Astrosamantha (as is customary among Europeans and Americans, the nickname is composed of ‘star’ plus first name) is on her second experience in orbit. In 2014-2015, in fact, he flew to the station with the Futura mission of the Italian Space Agency (ASI). It lasted 199 days.
His appointment as commander of the ISS came after the signing of an agreement in principle signed last May 19 by the international partners of the ISS (i.e. the representatives of ESA, NASA, and the space agencies of Russia, Japan and Canada) pending a more complete and detailed planning of the next operations. And it also comes at a significant time, when women and men from ESA member countries have the opportunity to participate in a selection for new astronauts. The application deadline has just been extended to June 18, 2021, to welcome the addition of Lithuania as an associate member of ESA.
Cristoforetti joined the ESA astronaut corps during the Agency’s last recruitment campaign in 2008-09. David Parker, ESA’s director of human and robotic exploration, says her career is an example of the opportunities available to current candidates and candidates: “Samantha joined us just over ten years ago as a very recruit. She is now a spaceflight veteran on the verge of taking a leadership role, “he stressed. “Like many of our active astronauts, Samantha reconciles a challenging career and caring for her family, embracing both challenges with the full support of Esa. In recent months Samantha has often encouraged anyone who dreams of being an astronaut and meets the requirements. minimum to come forward and participate in the selection, “added Parker.
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