Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has safely returned to Earth after a space trip of almost 200 days to the International Space Station (ISS). The 38-year-old native of Milan and former fighter jet pilot landed in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz landing module at 13:45 GMT on Thursday, according to la Repubblica.

 

Cristoforetti had been assigned to Expedition 42 to the ISS, along with her colleagues Anton Shakplerov (Russia) and Terry Virts (United States), who also returned to Earth aboard the Soyuz module.

 

With this trip, Cristoforetti has broken two major space travel records. She is now the female astronaut with most time in space, ahead of NASA's Sunita Williams' 195 days. She also broke the record for the longest space mission by any European astronaut, male or female.

 

Cristoforetti's return journey was originally scheduled for May 14. However, the return was postponed after the failure of an unmanned Russian cargo craft en route to the ISS on May 7, according to Reuters. Controllers lost control with the spacecraft, Progress-59, before it left orbit and plunged back into the atmosphere.

 

As the Soyuz landing modules uses rockets similar to the Progress cargo crafts, verifications had to be carried out for safety purposes, Reuters writes.

 

The crew of expedition 42 completed many experiments onboard the ISS, many of which relate to the medical and physiological effects of space trips on humans. NASA is very interested in knowing more about these effects for their current preparation for eventual human missions to Mars, Reuters reports.

 

"From the point of view of onboard operations, the outcome of the experiments is extremely positive", Cristoforetti told RepubblicaTV during an interview from the ISS in April. "Of course, I'm not the one who will draw conclusions from all of this; that will be the job of scientists back on Earth", she added.

 

Cristoforetti told RepubblicaTV that she had thoroughly enjoyed her stay in space and hoped to return to the ISS relatively soon. "I've adapted very well to life at the station", she said.

 

The astronaut has also been noted for her prolific activity on social media during her stay at the station, another novelty in human space exploration according to la Repubblica. Her Twitter account, "@AstroSamantha", currently has more than half a million followers.

 

"My first wish upon returning home? A long, warm shower", Cristoforetti laughed during the interview with RepubblicaTV.