Colonel Luca Parmitano is an Italian astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps for the European Space Agency . He was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009.
Parmitano is also a Colonel and test pilot for the Italian Air Force.
He is the first Italian to command the International Space Station during Expedition 61.[1] Wikipedia
“Hope is the possibility of always having something to achieve.”
Quoted in "End-of-Year Message from the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella" https://www.quirinale.it/elementi/42656 (31 December 2019).
