She’s the only woman in space and yes, we want to talk about what she’s wearing.
At this very moment, there are six human beings living in space.
Only one of those people, astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, is female.
Cristoforetti has degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics Science, and was one of the first women to be a lieutenant and fighter pilot in the Italian Air Force. (Oh, and she’s only 37.) She also happens to be the fluent in Italian, English, German, French and Russian, and the first Italian woman in space.
But as if those facts didn’t make us respect Cristoforetti like mad already, the fact that she just tweeted a photo from space wearing a Star Trek costume has tipped her into ‘our new hero’ territory.
“There’s coffee in that nebula… ehm, I mean… in that #Dragon,” Italian flight engineer Cristoforetti tweeted on 17 April — a reference to an approaching SpaceX Dragon freighter carrying essentials including coffee.
The uniform she’s wearing in her tweet is that worn on the “Star Trek: Voyager” series by USS Voyager captain Captain Kathryn Janeway (who, incidentally, holds the same rank as Cristoforetti– with the latter serving as a captain in the Italian Air Force.)
The image has now been ‘favourited’ 8,600 times and retweeted around 7,000 times — evidence that, like us, Trekkies and non-Trekkies alike appreciate a kick-arse, super-smart astronaut with a sense of humour.
Cristoforetti, who is a member of the Futura mission, has been living in the International Space Station since November and is expected to return to Earth in May.
Samantha, we (Vulcan) salute you.
