Samantha Cristoforetti

Samantha Cristoforetti is the first European female commander of the International Space Station and the first European woman to complete a spacewalk. Since 2012, Samantha has been part of two missions: during her latest Minerva, Samantha supported numerous European and international experiments in orbit. Outside of space, Samantha is a UNICEF ambassador and an avid reader with a passion for science and technology and an equal interest in humanities. She enjoys learning foreign languages and occasionally finds the time to hike, scuba dive or practice yoga. When not travelling for work, Samantha lives with her partner Lionel and their two children near ESA's Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany.