Samantha Cristoforetti becomes the first female commander of the Space Station

Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti is the first European woman to command the International Space Station, And it’s a nice fresh start for the engineer and pilot who drew attention to space to the stars (oops). s.The second woman after American Peggy Annette Whitson, the second Italian after Luca Parmitano and the fifth on the Continent to fill this role after colleagues Frank DeWine, Alexander Gerst, the aforementioned Parmitano and Thomas Pesquet, Samantha Cristoforetti He will replace the current leader, Oleg Armitayev, his fellow mission Minerva In orbit from April 2022. The token handover ceremony, the key that Armitayev will present to Kristoforiti, will take place on September 28 and will be visible in live broadcast on the European Space Agency’s web TV, the European Space Agency.“I am honored to be appointed as captain, and I look forward to leveraging the experience I have gained in space and on the ground to lead a highly capable team in orbit,” Samantha Cristoforetti said in the statement that ESA announced his next role. especially, What will International Space Station Commander Samantha Cristoforetti do? will be responsible for the work and welfare of the crew in orbit and will have to maintain all communications, as effectively as possible, with the ground team; Moreover, he will have to personally coordinate the crew in case of emergency (an infinite number of warnings). Since the mission is nearing completion, it will take a few weeks of coordination, after which Cristoforetti, in turn, will pass the cargo on to the next crew. Former Commander and current President of the EAC (European Astronaut Training Center) Frank de Winn, who represented the European Space Agency in the joint command selection process along with representatives of other space agencies operating on the International Space Station (NASA for the United States, Roscosmos for Russia, JAXA for Japan and CSA for Canada, while China is still a case in itself), commented with words of appreciation on Samantha Cristoforetti’s promotion to the role: “I am delighted that programming has changed in such a way that Samantha can once again be appointed to the position of Commander. She has our full support to play this important role. Leadership. There is no doubt that his leadership will ensure further successes for the mission.” . For David Parker, Director of Human and Robotic Exploration at the European Space Agency, “Samantha’s wealth of knowledge and experience makes her an excellent candidate for this role. As the first European woman to hold the position of Leader, she is once again pushing the boundaries of women’s representation in the space sector.”