scientific lab on board the ISS, was again built in Turin based on Italy's previous experience in space station module construction. Italian astronauts As an ESA member heavily involved in human spaceflight, ASI sponsors a select few Italian citizens to train at ESA's European Astronaut Corps (EAC) to represent the country on missions. Italians to have flown in space are: Franco Malerba, Italy's first astronaut and the only one not to fly as a member of the EAC. He flew on STS-46 (31 July to 7 August 1992) as payload specialist on the first Tethered Satellite System mission. Umberto Guidoni, flew on STS-75 (22 February to 9 March 1996) as payload specialist on the second Tethered Satellite System mission - TSS-1R. He became the first Italian and European on the International Space Station during STS-100 (19 April to 1 May 2001). Maurizio Cheli, flew with Umberto Guidoni as a mission specialist on STS-75. Roberto Vittori, has flown on multiple missions to the ISS: Soyuz TM-33, Soyuz TM-34, Soyuz TMA-5, Soyuz TMA-6 and STS-134. Paolo A. Nespoli, flew on STS-120 (23 October to 7 November 2007),; he then returned two more times on the ISS: one for the long duration MagISStra mission (Expedition 26/27, from 15 December 2010, to 23 May 2011) aboard the Soyuz TMA-20 and the other for the Vita mission (Expedition 52/53) Luca Parmitano, selected in February 2009, flew aboard Soyuz TMA-09M on 28 May 2013, arriving at the International Space Station the following day. He returned to Earth on 11 November 2013. He returned to the ISS on board the Soyuz MS-13 mission from 20 July 2019 to 6 February 2020. During this time he served as Flight Engineer on Expedition 60 and Commander on Expedition 61. Samantha Cristoforetti, also selected in 2009, flew to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-15M on 23 November 2014. Her original return date was delayed by one month after the failure of two Russian rockets extended her stay in space past the European astronaut and female astronaut endurance records. Her return to Earth, on 11 June 2015, concluded her 199d 16h 42m in space. She is currently on ISS from 27 April 2022 as a part of SpaceX Crew-4 mission and will command Expedition 68 from 29 September 2022 to ~10 October 2022. See also List of government space agencies List of space agencies References Bibliography Filippo Graziani, La Scuola