Who takes care of you when you are sick? Here's what little girls want to know about the Italian astronaut who runs the International Space Station

SciencesRecently, girls aged 8-11 from all over Europe had the opportunity to ask questions to Samantha Cristoforetti, 45, the first European woman to command the International Space Station. The purpose of the question tour? Encourage young women to choose STEM education. Questions such as “Who will take care of you when you are sick?” and “Can you eat pizza in space?” have been reviewed.

STEM is an international acronym that stands for a combination of education, technology and technical professions, the exact sciences and mathematics. Also, World Space Week began on Tuesday. The perfect time to put future STEM students in touch with Samantha Cristoforetti (45). This Italian is The first European woman to lead the International Space Station.

From the space station, the scientist answered several questions from young girls. Cristoforetti was accompanied by a lookalike Barbie, who was designed by Mattel in 2019.

In 2019, Mattel developed a Barbie look that resembles Samantha Cristoforetti (45). © ESA via REUTERS

One of the girls asked the Italian astronaut why she wanted to be an astronaut. “Growing up, I was fascinated by the night sky and the idea of flying into space,” replied Cristoforetti, floating weightless on the International Space Station. “Later I became interested in science and technology. I also loved flying and became a pilot. Being an astronaut brings together all my passions and interests.”

An astronaut citizen wanted to know if you could eat pizza in space. “Real pizza requires a real oven and unfortunately we don’t have one here.” The ISS only has an electric oven in which bags of food can be heated. But some time ago, the crew found a way to make something that looked like pizza. “It wasn’t that bad,” admits Cristoforetti.

© Thomas Pesquet / European Space Agency

Finally, one of the girls wanted to know who takes care of Cristoforetti when she’s sick on the International Space Station. Fortunately the scientist says that this has not happened yet. It seems that “for example, you can’t catch a cold here because there is no one who can pass the virus on to you”. “You can get hurt. In this case, we call the doctors on the ground. We explain what’s going on, and then they guide us.”

The Great Question Tour was created by Inspiring Girls International. This is a charitable organization that works to connect girls with international role models. and whether Cristoforetti belongs on that list. The 45-year-old Italian is living and working on the International Space Station for the second time since April as part of the Minefera mission. There she oversees European and international experiences in medicine and materials science. The forty in his country is a really famous person.