Italian European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut who holds the record for the longest single space flight by a woman, as well as the longest uninterrupted spaceflight of a European astronaut. The Milan native and Italian Air Force pilot was schooled as an engineer and selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009. In July 2012 she was assigned to an Italian Space Agency (ASI) mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). She was launched on a Soyuz spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 23 November 2014 on the second long-duration ASI mission and the eighth long-duration mission for an ESA astronaut—working on the ISS as a flight engineer for 199 days as part of Expedition 42 and 43. During her stay she performed research on the effect of space on physiology and assisted crew members on two space walks, though she did not walk herself.