Futura getting nearer

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will spend almost six months on the International Space Station from 23 November 2014 as part of Expeditions 42 and 43 in her Futura mission provided by Italy’s ASI space agency.

These images show her at Star City, Russia's centre for astronaut training and human spaceflight.

Samantha will be the seventh ESA astronaut on a long-duration mission in space and the fifth astronaut of Italian nationality to live on the Station.