It's official, Samantha Cristoforetti will be back on board the ISS. She explained it herself, together with her colleagues from NASA, during a press conference in Houston. Thus was presented the Minerva mission, which will see the crew aboard the spacecraft SpaceX Crew Dragon.
There will be alongside it Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines e Jessica Watkins, who will join with her the crew already present inside the orbiting station. During the time spent in space, Samantha Cristoforetti will carry out a series of experiments, some of which will aim to deepen the knowledge of the endocrine system of mammals, evaluating the effects on the tissues deriving from the total absence of gravity.
Samantha Cristoforetti and the Russian astronauts
Impossible not to mention the Russia issue, given the presence of some astronauts. Samantha Cristoforetti was able to express herself on the matter, explaining how they are all colleagues and friends. As troubled and saddened by the geopolitical situation, of course, there is a mission to carry out: “No member of the station has ever questioned the future of the ISS. I would like to reassure everyone that cooperation with Russian colleagues is more than optimal. I believe that space can be perceived as an environment of cohesion, rather than of contrast ”.
Space walk
It cannot be ruled out that Samantha Cristoforetti can indulge in a spacewalk, setting foot outside the ISS. She spoke of the hypothesis, answering questions from journalists. She explained how she trained for such an event, in the Russian suit. There could be the chance to find yourself in the vastness of space, "walking", right next to a Russian colleague.
Featured photo source: https://twitter.com/AstroSamantha
