WUNRN
http://www.nowitaly.com/89060/cristoforetti-comes-back-earth?nl=12062015
Italy’s First Woman Astronaut Returns to Earth, Sets New Record for a Woman in Space
12 June 2015 - Italy’s
first female astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti came back down to Earth Thursday
after setting a new record of 200 days for a woman in space.
The time period at the
International Space Station (ISS) overtook that of America’s Sunita Williams,
who spent 195 days in space in 2007.
Cristoforetti’s ISS
spell, almost a month longer than planned because of a technical hitch, was
also the longest uninterrupted spaceflight by a European astronaut.
“We are very proud of
you, Captain,” tweeted Premier Matteo Renzi, while President Sergio Mattarella
said he was expecting ‘AstroSamantha’ at the presidential palace to voice his
“deep esteem and gratitude” on behalf of the whole nation.
Education Minister
Stefania Giannini thanked Cristoforetti for “giving lustre to Italy” and
tweeted, “Welcome back, we’re waiting for you in the schools to relive your
adventure”.
Defence Minister
Roberta Pinotti also sent a welcome back to Cristoforetti, a captain in Italy’s
Air Force, where she is a fighter pilot.
“Welcome back! First
Italian woman in space, Italian Air Force captain. Pride of the nation and of
the #armedforces”, Pinotti tweeted. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano tweeted,
“Welcome back! Thanks for letting us dream and see space together with you.
A blizzard of ironic
tweets from ordinary Italians also marked Cristoforetti’s return, some of them
remarking that she had shown it was “easier to get back home from space than on
an Italian railways train”.
Cristoforetti was also
welcomed by a trio of pioneering Italian forerunners, Paolo Nespoli, Roberto
Vittori and Luca Parmitano, now veterans with the Italian and European space
agencies.
“Italy in space is now
a lot stronger thanks to Sam,” they all concurred.
Roberto Battiston, head
of the Italian Space Agency, said “the Futura mission was a great success. “We
are more than ready for fresh flights with other Italian astronauts,” he added.
“We’re thinking of
planning two new flights, the first in 2017 and the other one between 2018 and
2019,” he told ANSA.
New projects included
ground-breaking plans to observe heavenly bodies including Mars and new uses
for the Vega rocket which will enter a new phase of life.
Cristoforetti, who
touched down in the Kazakh steppe after a three-hour ride tired but smiling
with her two colleagues, Russian Anton Shkaplerov and American Terry Virts, is
now set to go through a rigorous but also relaxing programme of rehabilitation
to get used to gravity again after almost seven months being weightless.
Cristoforetti began the
European Space Agency’s long-duration Futura mission last November.
“The 200th day in space
began very early,” said Cristoforetti in a post to her Twitter account shortly
before leaving the ISS.
“It has been an exciting journey and thanks for the company! But now is is time
to return home to earth,” she continued.
Her mission was
unexpectedly extended because of a delay when Russia’s Progress 59 resupply
spacecraft did not arrive as scheduled at the ISS.
Cristoforetti has
become something of a media star, thanks to her social media presence,
including tweets from space and photos posted on social networks.
She made a concerted
effort to reach out to the public and make space exploration and science a
subject more accessible to everyday citizens.
Cristoforetti’s time in
space saw a lot of research conducted on genetics and biology, keeping ants,
fruit flies, plants and worms for international studies on the effects of
spaceflight over many generations.
Among other things, she
used the first space 3-D printer which aimed to show the viability of making
spare parts in orbit.
She also performed new manoeuvres with the ISS’s robot arm and helped move the
Italian Leonardo space module to make room for future US developments.
Her stay also marked
the first time astronauts were able to enjoy Italian-style espresso coffee. In
April, in fact, Cristoforetti and Virts welcomed aboard the SpaceX Dragon
commercial cargo craft with a payload including Italian coffee.
The so-called “Dragon
capsule” was loaded with scientific material for 40 experiments, along with
supplies including an innovative Italian espresso machine.
Italian-made ISSpresso,
the zero-gravity coffee machine, could innovate space food, the makers said.
Developed by aerospace
company Argotec, aerospace giant Finmeccanica and coffee king Lavazza, the
machine was designed to be anchored to the space station’s floor and required
120-volt power.
The espresso is made
from ISSpresso capsules, which when processed require 7 bars of atmospheric
pressure and space station tap water for 75-degree-Celsius-heated serving.
Argotec’s Davide Alvino
said the coffee experience would be different as “ISSpresso is above all a
complex experiment in the physics of the fluids that employs sophisticated
technology to validate a system capable of ensuring the management of different
liquids at high pressure and temperature in a space environment”.
If ISSpresso is
successful over the long term, it could improve space food nutrition by
allowing the production of other beverages including soups and broths.
“With the next
supplies, we could send into orbit new capsules to prepare other types of
beverages, such as tea and herbal teas, and also consomme'”, Alvino said.