(By Sandra Cordon).
Italian astronaut Samantha
Cristoforetti, only days after her return to Earth following
seven months in space, already knows what she would do if she
gets a chance for another mission.
"I would do many more experiments," Cristoforetti told ANSA
Friday in her first Italian newspaper interview since her return
on June 11 from the International Space Station.
Although she participated in numerous scientific activities
during her seven months on the ISS as part of the Futura mission
of the European Space Agency, she said that she has ideas for
many more.
"If I had to do a long mission, I would go on prepared to
perform some small, personal scientific experiments," said the
38-year-old.
"Sometimes, you can combine a personal and pleasant goal,
like this, with an educational goal".
That could build on her recent work on the ISS which
included experiments on the body, such as charting lung health
of astronauts.
Cristoforetti added that she would also ask friends and
colleagues for their ideas for experiments in space.
One of the greatest thrills for the first Italian woman in
space was the ability to observe planet Earth from such a great
distance.
"The 400 kilometers that separate the space station from
Earth is not a long distance, in itself, but when you're up
there, the Earth seems far away," said Cristoforetti.
Her mission, originally scheduled for six months was
extended to seven months due to a technical hitch.
That seemed no hardship to Cristoforetti, who described her
colleagues as a "winning team".
"The greatest satisfaction is to be part of a winning
team," she said.
"The efforts of the team has worked on many levels and we
have achieved all of our goals," she added.
The teams she worked with, which included hundreds of
people working on the ground as well as the ISS crew, functioned
well together, said the Milan-born Cristoforetti.
If there were difficulties, "these were always resolved
peacefully and we were working well together, doing so much
technology and science," she said.
Life on the space station left little personal time, but
the Italian Air Force captain said that when she had a free
moment, she enjoyed watching Earth from the dome - the large
window of the space station.
"From there, in just a few minutes of flight around the
world, you realize how many stories and how many human events
are happening down there," she said.
"Then you begin to look at things with a sense of great
human commonality.
"From outside you realize that, despite the many different
stories, in the end most of the human experience is something
shared by all".
As a result, Cristoforetti said she now feels "calmer, and
less inclined to look for fights".
While in space Cristoforetti became something of a media
star, thanks to her social media presence, including tweets from
space and photos posted on social networks.
She made a concerted effort to reach out to the public and
make space exploration and science a subject more accessible to
everyday citizens.
Cristoforetti's time in space saw a lot of research
conducted on genetics and biology, keeping ants, fruit flies,
plants and worms for international studies on the effects of
spaceflight over many generations.
She also used the first space 3-D printer which aimed to
show the viability of making spare parts in orbit.
As well, Cristoforetti performed new manoeuvres with the
ISS's robot arm and helped move the Italian Leonardo space
module to make room for future US developments.
Her stay also marked the first time astronauts were able to
enjoy Italian-style espresso coffee.
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