On 6 June, 2015, Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti broke the world record for the most time spent in space on a single mission by a woman.
Since she arrived at the International Space Station on her debut Futura mission in November 2014, Cristoforetti has kept those of us with our feet firmly back on Earth entertained with her intergalactic exploits, via her ever-lively Twitter feed, YouTube videos and Facebook updates, giving us a revealing glimpse of everyday life -- from the seemingly mundane to the brilliant -- onboard.
Cristoforetti, who's been running experiments for the Italian space agency (ASI) and Nasa during her 40-hour working weeks, was originally expected to return to Earth, together with NASA astronaut Terry Virts and cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, on 14 May. However, the expedition was extended after the Progress 59 freighter, launched by the Russian space agency, failed to arrive at the ISS after it burned up in the atmosphere.
To mark Cristoforetti's landing back to Earth on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft on June 11 -- having spent 199 days, 16 hours and 42 minutes (give or take a few) in space -- WIRED rounds up the highlights of her trip.
Space research
The reason behind Cristoforetti's Futura mission is to carry out experiments on the three start-of-the-art laboratories onboard the ISS, where research can be carried out in zero gravity. This video gives an insight into Cristoforetti's work on everything from CubeSat nanosatellites to physics experiments.
A tour around the ISS bathroom
Ever wondered what it's like to take a shower at zero gravity, or exactly how astronauts brush their teeth? This fascinating glimpse into basic hygiene 400km above Earth answers some nagging questions that have no doubt puzzled us all, such as how you wash your hair (with no-rinse shampoo) and how water behaves (gloopy and almost glue-like, due to the surface tension). And the key to cutting fingernails during weightlessness? A handheld vacuum cleaner and a ventilation shaft.
Zero-gravity espresso
A morning coffee is an essential for many of us, and for Italians, a daily espresso is pretty much non-negotiable. Cristoforetti got her first caffeine hit on May 3, 2015, after Lavazza teamed up with engineering firm Argotec and the Italian Space Agency to send an espresso machine into space for the first time. Dubbed an "ISSpresso", Cristoforetti sipped the coffee in a special, American-made zero-gravity cup whilst wearing her favourite Star Trek costume. However, the space espresso maker very nearly didn't make it at all. It was supposed to arrive in January on the SpaceX Dragon cargo carrier, but a shipment backlog meant it didn't get into orbit until April. As Cristoforetti tweeted: "To boldly brew...".
Stunning Earth photos
For the past six months, Cristoforetti has been lucky enough to have a bird's eye view of Earth, and her prolific use of social media has given us an equally intimate and frequently jaw-dropping view of our planet from space, from the ultimate overhead view of Arizona to the moonlight bathing the French coast in a luminous glow.
Working out in weightlessness
In another revealing video, Cristoforetti shows what a daily workout aboard the ISS is like. Using the ARED (Advanced Resistive Exercise Device), she films herself using the machine -- which doubles as a set of weights meets rowing machine -- to counteract the wasting effects of gravity on muscle strength and bones. Cristoforetti explains how astronauts have to train on the ARED for an hour and a half each day, showing that there's no respite from the treadmill -- even in space!
ISS snacks
What does a space diet consist of? Cristoforetti gives us a guided tour of Node 1, the place where the ISS team go to grab a healthy snack. The menu largely consists of dried fruit (citrus fruit salad/strawberries/dried apple), seeds and nuts, pumpkin seed bars, and Cristoforetti's very own power bar, made to a personalized recipe of fruit, wholegrain cereals, nuts and seeds. All sustaining stuff for life as an astronaut, no doubt, but something tells us that the astronauts might be desperate to run to the nearest burger bar once they land...
Making chicken curry
...Fortunately, the astronauts aboard the ISS are also allowed a certain amount of the more mouth-watering "bonus foods" that remind them of home. In this video, Cristoforetti shows us how to prepare one of these recipes -- turmeric chicken with whole red rice, peas and champignon mushrooms -- in microgravity. With plates being a bit pointless, and only adding to the washing up, Cristoforetti uses a tortilla as the base for the meal, before adding the various ingredients from shrink-wrapped foil packets. The end result? "It's not too bad, considering we're in weightlnessness".
When you gotta go...
Even in space, humans must still obey the call of nature -- and when you've gotta go, you've gotta go. However, when the forces of anti-gravity are working against you, that can make things a little bit, well, trickierthan usual. Fortunately, the space station is equipped with a specially designed bathroom that makes the process a little easier in lower Earth orbit. It basically all revolves around suction, using a hose-fan contraption. Urine can be turned into drinkable water, whereas waste from the other end is stored in a container -- which an astronaut very much drawing the short straw must empty, around every 10 days. These waste containers get put in a resupply aircraft, which burns up on its way back to Earth. However, as the last Russian spacecraft failed to make the journey, Cristoforetti and co are stuck with the excess baggage for a little longer than they were hoping for.
A lullaby from the stars
After giving previous readings in Italian and Russian (yes, she can also list 'polyglot' on her ever-growing CV), Cristoforetti decided to recite the children's perennial favourite nursery rhyme "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" -- from the perfectly apt setting of space. Iza Trapani's lullaby of course namechecks everything from the planets to the moon, offering an apt lullaby delivered right up from the stars themselves.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
