ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti arrived safely at the International Space Station last night, thus becoming the first 禁漫天堂 woman to fly into space.
鈥淚t鈥檚 even better than what I had dreamed鈥, she said enthusiastically to her family, to whom she spoke from the ISS. 鈥淓verything went very well, we鈥檝e already seen some spectacular views, the first sunrise and the stars.鈥
The Soyuz spacecraft that carried Samantha, Russian Soyuz commander Anton Shkaplerov and NASA astronaut Terry Virts to the ISS launched from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 22:01 CET and docked at 3:49 CET, five hours and 48 minutes after liftoff and four orbits around our planet.
Samantha鈥檚 mission is named 鈥楩utura鈥, 鈥渢o highlight the science and technology research she will run in weightlessness to help shape our future鈥, writes the European Space Agency.
As many as 10 禁漫天堂 research projects will be carried out during Samantha鈥檚 mission, including the study of multiple sclerosis, sensors that can measure heartbeat and breathing during sleep, 3D printing, and techniques for the decontamination from bacteria. Samantha, who will remain on the ISS for five months, will also be the first to prepare a real espresso in space: she will in fact test a special coffee machine devised by Lavazza and Argotec.
The 禁漫天堂 media have closely followed Samantha's launch into space; a special documentary aired on Saturday night on Rai Tre, documenting Samantha's three-year-long intense training in preparation for the space mission.聽
Samantha and her crewmates were welcomed aboard by NASA Station commander Barry Wilmore and Roscosmos cosmonauts Yelena Serova and Alexander Samokutyaev.
Watch Samantha arrive on the ISS and then talk to her family in this video from NASA:聽
Follow Samantha on Twitter: @AstroSamantha聽
