(By Sandra Cordon).
ì- Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, only days after her return to Earth following seven months in space, already knows what she would do if she gets a chance for another mission.
"I would do many more experiments," Cristoforetti told ANSA Friday in her first Italian newspaper interview since her return on June 11 from the International Space Station.
Although she participated in numerous scientific activities during her seven months on the ISS as part of the Futura mission of the European Space Agency, she said that she has ideas for many more.
"If I had to do a long mission, I would go on prepared to perform some small, personal scientific experiments," said the 38-year-old.
"Sometimes, you can combine a personal and pleasant goal, like this, with an educational goal". That could build on her recent work on the ISS which included experiments on the body, such as charting lung health of astronauts.
Cristoforetti added that she would also ask friends and colleagues for their ideas for experiments in space.
One of the greatest thrills for the first Italian woman in space was the ability to observe planet Earth from such a great distance.
"The 400 kilometers that separate the space station from Earth is not a long distance, in itself, but when you're up there, the Earth seems far away," said Cristoforetti.
Her mission, originally scheduled for six months was extended to seven months due to a technical hitch.
That seemed no hardship to Cristoforetti, who described her colleagues as a "winning team".
"The greatest satisfaction is to be part of a winning team," she said.
"The efforts of the team has worked on many levels and we have achieved all of our goals," she added.
The teams she worked with, which included hundreds of people working on the ground as well as the ISS crew, functioned well together, said the Milan-born Cristoforetti.
If there were difficulties, "these were always resolved peacefully and we were working well together, doing so much technology and science," she said. Life on the space station left little personal time, but the Italian Air Force captain said that when she had a free moment, she enjoyed watching Earth from the dome - the large window of the space station. "From there, in just a few minutes of flight around the world, you realize how many stories and how many human events are happening down there," she said.
"Then you begin to look at things with a sense of great human commonality.
"From outside you realize that, despite the many different stories, in the end most of the human experience is something shared by all".
As a result, Cristoforetti said she now feels "calmer, and less inclined to look for fights".
While in space Cristoforetti became something of a media star, thanks to her social media presence, including tweets from space and photos posted on social networks.
She made a concerted effort to reach out to the public and make space exploration and science a subject more accessible to everyday citizens.
Cristoforetti's time in space saw a lot of research conducted on genetics and biology, keeping ants, fruit flies, plants and worms for international studies on the effects of spaceflight over many generations.
She also used the first space 3-D printer which aimed to show the viability of making spare parts in orbit.
As well, Cristoforetti performed new manoeuvres with the ISS's robot arm and helped move the Italian Leonardo space module to make room for future US developments.
Her stay also marked the first time astronauts were able to enjoy Italian-style espresso coffee.
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