At the same time, she has also become the first non-American woman. She is skilled in leading the team in space and in Earth orbit. Prior to her, Alexander Gerst, Thomas Pesquet, Frank de Winn and Luca Parmitano from Europe have been the commanders of the space station.
Samantha Cristoforetti reached the International Space Station in April this year. This is her second visit to the International Space Station. She has become the 5th European commander to command the International Space Station. She has been leading the US segment on the ISS since April.
She took over command from outgoing commander Oleg Artemyev. Samantha Cristoforetti is an astronaut of the European Space Agency. She was formerly a pilot in the Italian Air Force. She is also the first Italian woman to go into space.
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is currently the largest modular space station in Low Earth Orbit. It jointly includes NASA, Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (Europe), CSA (Canada) and JAXA (Japan). It was established on 20 November 1998. The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, was launched by Russia. The ISS has full accommodation facilities for the astronauts.
