In 2022, Samantha Cristoforetti will make history when she takes charge of the International Space Station (ISS).

Cristoforetti, known in Italy as AstroSam, will take command during Expedition 68, the European Space Agency (ESA) reported.

According to Wanted in Milan:

As a member of Crew-4, the Milan-born astronaut will be launched with NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Bob Hines to the ISS from Florida on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.

The 44-year-old astronaut – Italy’s first woman in space – will be the third woman ISS commander in the world after two Americans, Sunita Williams and Shannon Walker.

Cristoforetti, a former Italian Air Force pilot, 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.

 

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