BIOGRAPHY
SAMANTHA CRISTOFORETTI
Samantha Cristoforetti was born on 26 April
1977 in Milan, Italy. She set the European
record for the longest time in space (200
days). Where she celebrated her 38th
birthday. In 2001, Samantha graduated with
master’s degree in mechanical engineering
and then she completed a bachelor’s
degree in aeronautics. After she graduated,
she joined Italian air force and earned her
fighter pilot wings. In May 2009, she was
selected as an ESA astronaut. Three years
later, she was assigned to fly on the Soyuz
TMA – 15M, as part of crew of expedition
42/ 43 on the ISS. On 23 November 2014,
Samantha's dream came true as she
launched into space while on board the ISS,
she conducted experiments like keeping
worms and insects alive and growing plants.
Samantha returned to the earth on 11th
June 2015. Back on Earth Samantha works
at the European Astronaut Center on
various projects. She is also Part of a team
working to improve communications in
astronaut operations. Looking ahead,
Samantha will continue her training as an
astronaut, which will include a mission to
the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Also, she
plans to develop an ESA program for
learners and teachers in school. Samantha
enjoys learning foreign languages and her
current challenge is Chinese. She likes to
read, Hike, Scuba dive and practice yoga.
She enjoys sharing her experiences on
Twitter where she has almost a million
followers. She is an inspiration to anyone
wanting to follow their dreams. She
believes anything is possible in her own
words ‘the sky is not the limit’.
The end