Samantha Cristoforetti
| Samantha Cristoforetti | |
|---|---|
 |
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| ASI/ESA Astronaut | |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Status | Active |
| Born |
26 April 1977 Milan, Italy |
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Current occupation
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Astronaut |
| University of Naples Federico II | |
| Rank | Captain, Italian Air Force |
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Time in space
|
199d 16h 42min |
| Selection | 2009 ESA Group |
| Missions | Soyuz TMA-15M (Expedition 42/43) |
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Mission insignia
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Samantha Cristoforetti (Italian pronunciation: [saˈmanta kristofoˈrɛtti]; born 26 April 1977 in Milan) is an Italian European Space Agency astronaut, Italian Air Force pilot and engineer. She holds the records for longest single space flight by a woman (199 days 16 hours) and for the longest uninterrupted spaceflight of a European astronaut. She is also the first Italian woman in space. Samantha Cristoforetti is also known as the first person who brewed an espresso coffee in space.
Cristoforetti was born in Milan in 1977. She spent her childhood in Malè, in Val di Sole, Trentino, Italy. When she was 18, she took a US foreign exchange program and attended Space Camp. She studied in Bolzano and Trento and graduated from the Technical University of Munich with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. She studied at the École nationale supérieure de l'aéronautique et de l'espace in Toulouse, France, and at the Mendeleev Russian University of Chemistry and Technology in Moscow. She graduated in Aeronautics Sciences (University 'Federico II', Naples) at the Accademia Aeronautica in Pozzuoli, becoming one of the first women to be a lieutenant and fighter pilot in the Italian Air Force. She is the second Space Camp alumnus in orbit.
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