Samantha Cristoforetti dressed in her Russian Sokol suit

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti dressed in her Russian Sokol suit, ready for launch to the International Space Station, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on 23 November 2014.

With Samantha are Russian Soyuz commander Anton Shkaplerov and NASA astronaut Terry Virts. All three are part of the Station’s Expedition 42/43 crew.

On this mission, Samantha is flying as an ESA astronaut for Italy’s ASI space agency under a special agreement between ASI and NASA.