Mr Shkaplerov, Mr Virts and Ms Cristoforetti will remain aboard the station until mid-May. The current crew of NASA's Barry Wilmore, Russian Alexander Samokutyaev and Serova will return to Earth in early March.

After a warm reception the crew enjoyed a festive meal together, Cristoforetti said. The trio brought with them an important new cache of food supplies, including nearly a kilo of caviar, fresh fruit and an espresso machine that can also make broth and tea.

The machine, uses "extraterrestrial" capsules and can operate in "microgravity" conditions, say its designers.

Ms. Cristoforetti, 37, is not only the first female astronaut from Italy to go into space, but also the very first astronaut in history to savour an authentic Italian espresso in orbit, said the Isspressos makers, Italian coffee maker Lavazza and engineering firm Argotec in a joint statement.

Born in Milan and raised in the mountains of Trentino, Ms. Cristoforetti studied engineering and became a fighter pilot in the Italian air force, reaching the rank of captain, before becoming the seventh European Space Agency astronaut on the long-term mission which will last until May 2015.

She is the fifth Italian to live on the station, which cost $500 billion to build and was launched into orbit in 1998.

Ms. Cristoforetti underwent five years of intense training to realise her childhood dream.

In her six months on the ISS, she will run microgravity experiments in physical science, biology and human physiology. According to ESA, she will also issue the command for the stations largest support vehicle, the ATV Georges Lematre, to undock and burn up in the atmosphere on re-entry.

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