Samantha Cristoforetti is an Italian European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut, engineer, and former Italian Air Force pilot. She spent 200 days on the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Expedition 42/43. In March 2021, ESA announced that Cristoforetti will command ISS Expedition 68a when she returns in spring 2022. She was also the commander of NASA’s NEEMO 23 underwater research and exploration mission in 2019.