Throughout his childhood in Italy, Luca Parmitano knew two things: he loved sports, and he wanted to be an astronaut. He spent his youth as an avid basketball player, swimmer, and runner, before relocating to California in 1995 as a foreign exchange student. Eventually, Luca returned home to Italy, graduating from the Italian Air Force Academy before making his way back to the U.S. once again to train with the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas. During his career as a pilot, Luca achieved prestige by qualifying to fly more than 40 types of aircraft. In 2009, Luca fulfilled one of his childhood dreams-being selected an Astronaut for the European Space Agency. Luca and…
