Rome, 9 October 2015
European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti “landed” in Rome, at the Roma Termini station, travelling aboard a Frecciarossa.
This is the fourth leg of her Post Flight Tour, of which Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane is the official flagship carrier.
Samantha is joined by fellow Expedition 42/43 crewmembers, American astronaut Terry Virts from NASA; and Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos, who had all returned to Earth on June 11 of this year.
A two-day stopover in the Italian capital for official events, and then on to a large public gathering at the Teatro Olimpico.
The final leg of their journey ended in Napoli (Naples) on Sunday, 11 October, with a visit to the Museo Nazionale Ferroviario di Pietrarsa (The National Railways Museum in Pietrarsa) and a Press Conference closing the tour, followed by meeting enthusiastic students in the historic Teatro San Carlo, organized by the CIRA (Italian Aerospace Research Centre).
What unites outer space with trains?
First of all, technological innovation, which is part of the Italian State Railways Group mission, which is capable of developing advanced systems such as the ERTMS, that permits the automatic control of trains travelling at high speeds, thereby breaking through the barrier of the 3-hour trip between Rome and Milan using a supertechnological train like the Frecciarossa 1000.