Italian astronaut Samantha
Cristoforetti will be the first European woman to command the
International Space Station (ISS), and the third woman in the
world after two Americans, during Expedition 68 which will see
the ISS in orbit in 2022, the European Space Agency said Friday.
Cristoforetti said "returning to the International Space Station
is an honour in itself. I am honoured by my appointment to the
post of commander and I look forward to using the experience I
have acquired in space and on the Earth to lead a very competent
team in orbit."
Equal Opportunities Minister Elena Bonetti said "from a woman
another road opened in science, another start for Italy.
Congratulations Samantha!"
Cristoforetti, 44, holds the record for the longest
uninterrupted spaceflight by a European astronaut (199 days, 16
hours), and until June 2017 held the record for the longest
single space flight by a woman until this was broken by Peggy
Whitson and later by Christina Koch, both Americans.
She is also the first Italian woman in space.
She is very popular in Italy, where she is nicknamed
'AstroSamantha' or 'AstroSam'.
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