WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

European Space Agency astronauts Paolo Nespoli (left), Expedition 27 flight engineer; and Roberto Vittori, STS-134 mission specialist, are pictured in the European Space Agency's "Johannes Kepler" Automated Transfer Vehicle-2 (ATV-2) currently docked to the International Space Station following an Earth-to-space phone tag-up with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano. Nespoli has been on the station for over five months and is due to return to Earth in less than 24 hours. Vittori is on a 16-day mission of the space shuttle Endeavour, joined by five NASA astronauts. This occasion is the second time two Italian astronauts have been in space together and the first time in the last 15 years.