Samantha Christoforetti had already stolen the hearts of millions of Italians before she published this book. Since then, after the publication in English, she has also stolen mine.

I’m still at a loss for words, because it feels as though I experienced the selection, the training, the launch, the station and above all the cupola, the place she loves the most. I created an emotional bond with people I will never meet, I rejoiced in sights I might never see.

Thank you, Samantha, for taking me with you on your journey. I especially loved the literary quotes along the way.

“Mountains rest, outgloried by the stars -
but even there, time’s transition glimmers.
Ah, nightly refuged in my wild heart,
roofless, the imperishable lingers”