Posted on 11/24/2014 8:45:32 AM PST by BenLurkin
Samantha Cristoforetti was joined by Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov and American astronaut Terry Virts as the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft launched from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2101 GMT, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a statement.
"Soyuz safely in orbit, next stop ISS," NASA wrote in a tweet, while live images of the launch showed Virts giving the thumbs up and smiling.
Cristoforetti, Virts and Shkaplerov were to dock around six hours after taking off at the space station where they are to live until May 2015.
Their voyage also mean substantial food supplies, with nearly half a kilo of caviar in their baggage and an espresso machine.
"There will be 15 boxes of 30 grammes each of caviar, but also apples, oranges, tomatoes and 140 doses of freeze dried milk and black tea without sugar," a space station official was quoted as saying by Russian press agency TASS.
Astronauts on the station will also finally be able to enjoy a decent brew thanks to the 20-kilogramme machine designed by famed Italian coffee makers Lavazza and engineering firm Argotec, which specialises in making space food.
Cristoforetti, 37, who is also a captain in the Italian airforce, "will be not only the first female astronaut from Italy to go into space, but also the very first astronaut in the history of the conquest of space to savour an authentic Italian espresso in orbit," the two companies said in a statement.
In total 16 countries work on the ISS, including Russia and the United States, which finance most of its operation. A team of astronauts is always aboard, with stays of up to six months.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
hopefully no hairy pits
/kidding
Now the place will smell of garlic.
Sergeant Daniela Bianchi
Hope the quality in that expresso machine has improved from the Eyete stuff of the mid 80’s, if it fails up there, it won’t even make a good paperweight! ;)
She’s Milanese and grew up in Trentino. Most ethnic Albanians in Italy are from the far south.
screw you and you mayonnaise face
lol
I think she looks nice, to be honest
How in the world did ethnic Albanians in Italy end up at the far south? were they “unwelcomed” in the north?
they got through the north in a hurry
Sergeant Daniela Bianchi...
Bond girl in From Russia with Love, 1963.
http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.608036493240238760&pid=1.7
Ciao, bella!
Pasta ever night?
lol
Watched the pre-emptive part and blast off.
Those cosmonauts have to use sticks to press the buttons. So strange looking. Like an 18” wand attached to their wrist. Has a black tip.
She will be a goddess in the ISS!!
Huh? I suppose I could write about the Ottoman influence in the Balkans during the 16th and 17th centuries and the push-pull migration of Arbereshe peoples, but it might be easier if you just looked at a map.
maps are good, I like maps
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