An important promise for Italy in the new adventure to the Moon. Italy has obtained a "formal commitment" from the European Space Agency (Esa) that one of two Italian astronauts from the class of 2009, namely Samantha Cristoforetti or Luca Parmitano, will participate in the planned mission aboard the future Lunar Gateway space station in lunar orbi...

Italy's Samantha Cristoforetti on Wednesday became the first European woman to take over command of the International Space Station during a ceremony broadcast live from space. The outgoing commander, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev, used the occasion to seemingly make a rare space-bound reference to the war in Ukraine, saying that "despite the sto...

Samantha Cristoforetti, 45-year old Italian astronaut, is soon going to become the Commander of the International Space Station, the international research lab orbiting around Earth. She will be the first ever European woman to cover this role. On September 28th, an official ceremony with the passing of the title from her predecessor, Oleg Artemyev...

Italian ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will soon fulfil the role of commander of the International Space Station, taking over from fellow Expedition 67 crew member Oleg Artemyev. Since beginning her Minerva mission in April 2022, Samantha has served as lead of the United States Orbital Segment (USOS), overseeing activities in the US, European...

An Italian astronaut joined a Russian cosmonaut in a rare spacewalking show of unity Thursday, as tensions over Ukraine continued to ricochet back home. Italy’s Samantha Cristoforetti teamed up with Russia’s Oleg Artemyev to work on the International Space Station’s newest robot arm. The 37-foot (11-meter) mechanical limb — contributed by the Europ...

Last week, eight years after her first historical mission, our Samantha Cristoforetti – lovingly known as Astro Samantha – returned to Space. At 9.52 a.m. Italian time, on the 27th of April, SpaceX’s Freedom brought her, and three other astronauts, to the ISS. But Italy’s love story with Space didn’t start with Samantha. If you think of it, we’ve b...

Last week, four Italian olive oils were sent into orbit on the International Space Station (ISS), and they are now flying at an altitude of approximately 400 kilometers above Earth. They were brought into space by the European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, who returned to the ISS for her second mission, Minerva. “This year, S...

Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti is preparing to take the social media platform Tiktok to space, inviting people to follow her "to boldly go where no TikToker has gone before!" Cristoforetti, popularly known in Italy as AstroSam, will join three other crew members on the Minerva mission to the International Space Station (ISS), with take-of...

Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti said Monday she may make a space-walk with a Russian colleague on her next mission to the International Space Station. "I have trained for a space walk, with the Russian suit", she said answering a question on her upcoming mission to the ISS. "There may be a chance of a space walk with a Russian colleague. I...

The President of the Republic of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, received this past Friday, January 7, 2022, ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti at the Quirinale building, with the Director General of the European Space Agency, Josef Aschbacher, the President of the Italian Space Agency, Giorgio Saccoccia, and the Head of Cabinet of ESA Director-General...