European woman takes command of International Space Station for first time

A Russian cosmonaut said "war will end everywhere" while handing over command of the space station on September 28 to Samantha Cristoforetti, who is now the first European woman in charge of the orbiting lab.

Cristoforetti is taking the helm of the space station as its various partners are stressing that space cooperation continues despite the strife on the ground. Notably, SpaceX's Crew-5 mission to the ISS is set to launch next week with a Russian cosmonaut aboard — a first for a private American crewed vehicle, according to Space.com.

Cristoforetti is the fifth European commander (opens in new tab) of the ISS, following Frank De Winne, Alexander Gerst, Luca Parmitano and Thomas Pesquet, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). During Wednesday's (September 28) change-of-command ceremony, outgoing commander Oleg Artemyev emphasized that the complex currently hosts 10 people representing three countries: Russia, the United States and Italy.

Cristoforetti's command will require her to take charge of crew activities on site at the ISS, including "the performance and well-being of the crew on orbit, maintaining effective communication with the teams on Earth, and coordinating the crew response in case of emergencies," ESA officials wrote. She will lead Expedition 68, which officially begins when Artemyev and fellow cosmonauts Denis Matveev and Sergei Korsakov depart the orbiting lab early Thursday (Sept. 29) aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

The ISS is a multinational consortium with the United States and Russia as majority partners; ESA also plays a major if slightly lesser role. ESA-Russian relations have soured due to the Ukraine invasion, however, delaying the life-hunting ExoMars rover mission that was supposed to lift off earlier this year, among other impacts.

The entirety of the International Space Station's (ISS) current Expedition 67 mission occurred during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began in February. Media reports in recent days suggest that Russia is now turning to conscription of soldiers amid sustained Ukrainian resistance.