Peggy Whitson
Latest
After 355 days aboard the ISS, astronaut Mark Vande Hei returns to Earth a changed man
As humanity's spaceward expansion accelerates in the coming decades, somebody's going to have to keep all those commercial astronauts alive.
How Peggy Whitson stayed in shape for nine months aboard the ISS
Space is no place for battles of the bulge. That's why NASA insists on getting its astronauts into peak physical condition before sending them offworld. But aboard the ISS, in a living space the size of a football field, the human body will readily go to pot. So how did Peggy Whitson, the longest-orbiting astronaut in American history, manage an astonishing nine and a half months in microgravity without having her body and mind atrophy? She hit the astronaut gym. Yes, of course, there's a gym on the ISS -- just, no lap pool.
America's longest-orbiting female astronaut has safely returned home
After spending 665 days whizzing 254 miles above the surface of Earth aboard the International Space Station, Astronaut Peggy Whitson has successfully reentered the atmosphere and set down safely in Kazakhstan. That's the longest time spent on the ISS for any woman astronaut in history -- or any American astronaut for that matter.
Peggy Whitson breaks the US record for cumulative time in space
US astronaut Peggy Whitson has officially broken the US record for cumulative time spent in space. As of 1:27 AM ET today, she had spent 534 days, 2 hours and 49 minutes in space -- a number that has obviously increased since then. But that amount of time spent in space broke the record previously held by Jeff Williams. Her current run on the International Space Station started on November 17th, 2016, and her mission was recently extended from March until September. By the time she returns to earth, she'll have accumulated more than 650 days in space. Whitson has also spent more than 53 hours outside the ISS doing spacewalks, a record for female astronauts.
