Samantha Cristoforetti

Samantha Cristoforetti flew two missions to space. In total, she lived in the International Space Station ISS for more than a year. The still holds the record for the longest European space flight (199 days)

On board, Samantha explored how to fly future missions to the moon and to Mars. She also took a spacewalk of more than seven hours to install the European robotic arm ERA.

A coffee lover, she brought the first-ever ‘zero-G’ espresso machine to space: the ISSpresso. Apart from coffee, she loves scuba diving, sports, healthy eating and, of course, the mesmerising view of Earth.

Did you know this about Samantha?

• She was born in Milan and studied mechanical engineering in Germany.

• In 2009, she was chosen as an astronaut from among eight thousand different candidates.

• She was the second woman from Europe sent to space and the first from Italy.

• Samantha was made into a special Barbie doll, with flight coveralls and spacesuit.

• She flew in two different spacecraft: the Russian Soyuz (2014/15) and SpaceX's Dragon (2022).

• During her first mission, Samantha challenged schoolchildren to eat healthily and exercise more with the educational programme Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut.

• In 2022, she made the first-ever TikTok video aboard the International Space Station.

• Samantha speaks Italian, English, German, French, Russian and Chinese.