Villadei's crew arrives at International Space Station

(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 20 - The Dragon capsule carrying a four-strong European crew, including Italian Air Force colonel and pilot Walter Villadei, docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday.
    The four arrived at the ISS, having blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, thanks to the Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3), run by private entity Axiom Space.
    It is first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the ISS.
    The other members of the crew are European Space Agency (ESA) project astronaut Marcus Wandt from Sweden, Alper GezeravcÕ from Turkey and Michael López-Alegría, a dual US-Spanish citizen.
    Villadei has extensive experience in Italian space programs, including multiple assignments as a member of the scientific committee of the Italian Space Agency and national representative for the European Commission for the Space Surveillance and Tracking Program.
    The new arrivals take the number of astronauts currently on board the ISS to 11.
    They are of seven different nationalities - commander Andreas Mogensen of Denmark, Americans Jasmin Moghbeli, Loral O'Hara and Michael Lopez-Alegria, Russians Konstantin Borisov, Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, Japan's Satoshi Furukawa, Italy's Villadei, Sweden's Wandt and Turkey's Gezeravci.
    "I thank all of Italy," Villadei said during the traditional ISS welcome ceremony.
    "I thank the Air Force and all the institutions that made this mission possible.
    "Thanks for the welcome," he said to the crew of ISS Expedition 70.
    "It is extraordinary to see how many countries are represented here and how much cooperation there is".
    Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni wished Villadei well.
    "All the best to Air Force Colonel Walter Villadei and to the entire crew of the Ax3 Voluntas space mission for their work," Meloni said via social media.
    "Italy is opening a new chapter in space exploration by playing a fundamental role in coordinating and carrying out important scientific and technological experiments.
    "It is a great source of pride for our nation". (ANSA).