She’s Italy’s rock star astronaut. And she has landed safely back home

The space capsule that parachuted on to the steppes of Kazakhstan today returned to Italy its pride and joy, astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. 

Sure, two space dudes were on board — a Russian and an American. But in Italy, all eyes were on the woman whose adventures in orbit they'd followed faithfully for two hundred days on social media. 

"She uses Twitter extremely well, she sends really amazing pictures with smart comments,"  says Beppe Severgnini, a political commentator Corriere della Sera.  "She's been part of the Italian life … And in Italy as everywhere in Europe and in America, we need good news."

There's a lot for Italians to take pride in. Cristoforetti broke the record for the most time in space for a woman on June 6, after she spent almost 195 days aboard the International Space Station.  That's because a Russian cargo craft sent to the space station in April failed to arrive and burned up in the atmosphere.  That meant Cristoforetti would spent an unexpected extra month in space.  

A true Italian, she brought the first espresso maker into orbit. It's that sensibility, Severgnini says, that helped her forge a sense of unity among Italians. "In Italy, we need to be reminded that after all, a nation means sharing something and she has been very good at that," Severgnini says.

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He says Cristoforetti became a kind of idol for young Italian women, an example of a successful young professional woman ready to take big risks to do something meaningful. "My research assistant, she's 27, and she forced me to watch all of today's (coverage), the flight, the parachuting down," Severgnini says. "She was excited, like looking at a rock star." 

Now that Cristoforetti is back on land, Severgnini warns that some unscrupulous Italians will hope to cash in on her fame. He has some advice for her: avoid television talk shows, resist requests to wear her spacesuit everywhere and refuse all offers to get involved into politics.

"She's a scientist, she is an astronaut and she is a symbol for young Italian women," Severgnini says. "She's got three jobs, not one." 

But he admits that if he were a successful spacewoman like Cristoforetti, he wouldn't bother with the advice of an Italian man.