What does it take to be an astronaut in the 21st Century?
This is a unique interview in which Samantha Cristoforetti, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut, answers questions from Nicole Stott, former NASA astronaut and current Space artist “The Artistic Astronaut” and Liam Malone Paralympic Gold medalist, as well as from members of the public, Ana Guzman media production co-ordinator and Yusuf Govani, engineer.
Here, Samantha also talks of the people she would most like to meet and the questions she would like to ask them.
Furthermore, she unveils her plans to publish a book, in which she wishes to convey her experience of what it is like to be an astronaut in the 21st Century, as well as the training involved. The book, which will initially be written in the Italian language, is expected to be available in Italian from the end of 2017. An English translation will be released later.
Samantha Cristoforetti has wanted to be an astronaut most of her life. She is an obvious choice for an astronaut. An Italian Airforce Pilot and engineer, who from an early age spent time abroad. She was an exchange student in St Paul Minnesota, studied in Germany, then France and did her thesis in Moscow.
She is a multilingual communicator (speaking Italian, German, French, English, Russian and learning Chinese) with interests that span science, science fiction, technology, flying and travelling.
She has spent over 199 days at the International Space Station ISS, on missions 42 and 43, conducting experiments and teaching students. In February 2015, she began the outreach program “Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut”, working with scientists to conduct experiments on The International Space Station (ISS) and undertaking engineering and technical tasks. She was the primary operator during the undocking of the ATV-5.
On 3 July 2012, the European Space Agency announced that Cristoforetti was set for a long-duration mission to the ISS in 2014.
On 23 November 2014, Soyuz TMA-15M, carrying Cristoforetti and two other astronauts launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. It successfully docked at the International Space Station roughly six hours later. Cristoforetti, along with her crew mates, returned safely from the ISS on 11 June 2015. She became the holder of the record for the longest single mission for a woman. Previously, the NASA astronaut Sunita Williams held that record with 195 days after her Expedition 33 mission to the ISS. Cristoforetti’s record was beaten on June 5, 2017 by Peggy Whitson during Expedition 52.
Awards
She held the record for the longest uninterrupted spaceflight of a European astronaut (199 days, 16 hours), and until June 2017, she held the record for the longest single space flight by a woman until this was broken by Peggy Whitson.
She is also the first Italian woman in space.
Samantha Cristoforetti is known as the first person who brewed an espresso coffee in space.
On 16 July 2015: Awarded the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.
The Order of Merit is the senior order of knighthood, the highest-ranking honour of the Republic.
She is currently working on the Spaceship EAC Initiative, a budget lunar simulator, a project that evaluates radiation and radiation protection for flights beyond low Earth orbit and is also part of a working group that focuses on building co-operation with the Chinese Space Agency.
This interview was conducted on 1 June 2017 at the Barbican Centre (sound interference from the exhibition) to mark the opening of “Into the Unknown”, a science fiction exhibition which will run until 1 September 2017.
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Thank you to Stuart Allen-Hynd Jungle Studios
Information sources: ideaXme interview, ESA and Wikipedia.
Credits: Andrea Macdonald interview video, text, and audio
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