Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano
has been proposed for a return flight to the INternational Space
Station in 2019 and a final decision will be made in spring
2017, European Space Agency (ESA) Director-General Jan Woerner
told ESA's ministerial conference in Lucerne Friday. Parmitano,
39, completed a five-and-a-half-month stint on the ISS in
November 2013 in which he became the first Italian to walk in
space and the youngest astronaut in history to perform a
long-term mission. The second of his two space walks was
interrupted in July when water leaked through his suit and into
the helmet, soaking his eyes, nose and mouth, but Parmitano's
calm response to the situation enabled him to get back to safety
on the ISS.
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