Whitson spent 289 days in orbit before returning aboard Soyuz MS-04. [6][7][8] After completion of her eighth EVA in March 2017, Whitson now holds the records for the oldest woman spacewalker, and the record for total spacewalks by a woman, which was broken by her again after a ninth and tenth EVA in May 2017,[9] surpassing Sunita Williams, who has completed 7. Astronaut. Her second mission, Expedition 16, launched October 10, 2007, on Soyuz TMA-11. [41][42] When interviewed on that day she declared 'It is actually a huge honor to break a record like this, but it is an honor for me back to be representing all the folks at NASA'. La passejada espacial va tenir lloc el 16 d'agost de 2002. Peggy Whitson - Biography. During the six-month mission she also performed five space walks to carry out maintenance and assembly tasks. in biology and chemistry from Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, in 1981 and a doctorate in biochemistry from Rice University in Houston in 1985. 60 Year Olds. As a cost-cutting measure, Russia decided to launch Soyuz MS-04 with only one cosmonaut. The re-entry was remarkable for the failure of the Soyuz propulsion module to separate properly, and the subsequent "ballistic reentry" which subjected the crew to forces about eight times that of Earth surface gravity. Peggy Annette Whitson (born February 9, 1960) is an American biochemistry researcher, retired NASA astronaut, and former NASA Chief Astronaut. Peggy Whitson Biography Peggy Whitson is a retired NASA astronaut and a former NASA Chief Astronaut. [25] The Expedition 5 crew returned to Earth aboard STS-113 on December 7, 2002. Peggy Whitson is a NASA astronaut. The duration was 2 hours and 46 minutes, making Whitson's cumulative EVA time more than 60 hours, placing her third on the list for most EVA time. Whitson began her astronaut training in August 1996. The crew of Soyuz TMA-11 had a difficult and dangerous ride back to Earth; the Soyuz’s equipment module failed to separate properly from the reentry module, and so the craft followed an unusually steep descent trajectory. [21] Whitson graduated from Mount Ayr Community High School in 1978 and received a bachelor of science degree in biology and chemistry from Iowa Wesleyan College in 1981. In 1992, she was named the project scientist of the Shuttle-Mir Program (STS-60, STS-63, STS-71, Mir 18, Mir 19), and served in this capacity until the conclusion of the Phase 1A Program in 1995. [43], On May 12, 2017, Whitson performed her ninth career EVA with Jack Fischer. Aquarius Astronaut #5. On April 10, 2017, she became commander of the ISS Expedition 51 mission, which lasted until June 2. On September 3, she returned in a previously vacant seat on the Soyuz capsule accompanied by NASA's Jack Fischer and Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos.[40]. She is on her third and longest mission to space. They replaced a backup multiplexer-demultiplexer (MDM) unit that had failed on May 20, 2017. First Name Peggy. La seva primera missió espacial va ser el 2002, amb una estada ampliada a bord de l' Estació Espacial Internacional com a membre de l' Expedició 5 . [15], Whitson returned to earth on September 3, 2017 having accrued a total of 665 days in space over the course of her career; the equivalent of a hypothetical round trip to Mars, making her NASA's most experienced astronaut to date. The crew made an extremely hard landing, which missed the target by 470 km (300 miles). In 2017, she broke the record for the longest single space flight by a woman. From 1991 to 1993, she served as technical monitor of the Biochemistry Research Laboratories in the Biomedical Operations and Research Branch. The duration was 4 hours and 13 minutes, and it was the 200th EVA to be performed on the ISS. Whitson was appointed NASA Chief of the Astronaut Office in October 2009, replacing Steven W. Lindsey. On April 24, 2017, Whitson officially broke the record for longest amount of time spent in space by any NASA astronaut. Peggy Whitson is a astronaut from Iowa, United States. From November 2003 to March 2005, she served as deputy chief of the Astronaut in June 2003. 60 Year Old Astronaut #1. [3], From 1992 to 1995, she served as project scientist for the Shuttle-Mir Program and, until her selection as an astronaut candidate in 1996, as deputy division chief for the Medical Sciences division at the Johnson Space Center.[3]. Peggy Whitson Fans Also Viewed . Bio. Med opsendelsen med Ekspedition 50/51 blev Whitson i en alder af 56 år den ældste kvinde i rummet. [35][36] With the launch of Expedition 50/51 with her on it, Whitson, at age 56, became the oldest woman to fly into space. Peggy Whitson is a retired NASA astronaut and a former NASA Chief Astronaut. Whitson was named the first NASA science officer during her stay, and she conducted 21 investigations in human life sciences and microgravity sciences, as well as commercial payloads. On December 18, 2007, during the fourth spacewalk of Expedition 16 to inspect the S4 starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ), the ground team in Mission Control informed Whitson that she had become the female astronaut with the most cumulative EVA time in NASA history, as well as the most EVAs, with her fifth EVA. [1] In June 2020, Whitson was a guest (along with two imposters) on an ABC-TV "To Tell the Truth" episode in which Patti LaBelle correctly selected her as the record-holding time in space astronaut. She is married to Clarence Sams. From 1993 through 1996, Whitson held the additional responsibilities of the deputy division chief of the Medical Sciences Division at NASA-JSC. Whitson retired from NASA in 2018. Corrections? Over her career, she accrued a cumulative time of over 665 days in space, the most of any U.S. astronaut, most of any woman worldwide, and eighth most all-time. In 2017, she broke the record for the longest single space flight by a woman. Peggy Whitson is an American astronaut who was born on February 9, 1960. One Strange Rock. [29] She spent 191 days, 19 hrs and 8 mins in space on this mission.[30]. Peggy Whitson Popularity . This total was more time in space than any other woman worldwide and any other American. Biography. 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