Three cheers for Samantha Cristoforetti, smasher of space records

[jakeXT]

Samantha Cristoforetti is back on Earth after a six-month stay on the International Space Station, and she carries a host of superlatives with her. At 11:04 a.m. ET on June 6, the 38-year-old Italian astronaut broke the record for the longest space mission ever completed by a woman. Having landed on June 11, she's beaten that benchmark by about five days.

Cristoforetti's flight is also the longest mission taken by any European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut, male or female, which is a record she broke by about a week. Meanwhile, she leaves behind crew members Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko to complete the remaining portion of their year-long mission.

Cristoforetti has a long way to go if she wants to beat the other female record -- the record for total time spent in space over multiple missions -- because American astronaut Peggy Whitson has logged 376 days in space and has another mission forthcoming.

When ranked among all astronauts, Cristoforetti's time on ISS sounds considerably less impressive -- she now ranks just 74th overall. But out of 538 astronauts to orbit the planet -- and just 59 women total -- it's not too shabby at all.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/06/11/three-cheers-for-samantha-cristoforetti-smasher-of-space-records/

[underpants]

1. The Weather Channel has a great video of her "cooking" in space

Sorry can't post a link on this phone

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

2. Here's the link

http://www.weather.com/series/warp/video/esa-astronaut-samantha-cristoforetti-sets-new-record-for-longest-stint-in-space

[shenmue]

3. Nice planet, think I'll keep it