Peggy Whitson, American biochemist and astronaut
Peggy Annette Whitson (born February 9, 1960) is an American biochemistry researcher, retired NASA astronaut, and former NASA Chief Astronaut.
Her first space mission was in 2002, with an extended stay aboard the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 5. On her second mission, she became first female commander of the ISS with Expedition 16. In 2017, Whitson became the first female astronaut to command the International Space Station twice, and broke the record for the longest single space flight by a woman at 289 days in orbit before returning aboard Soyuz MS-04. This record was broken by Christina Koch's flight, which lasted 328 days.Whitson holds the records for the oldest woman spacewalker and the record for total spacewalks by a woman. Whitson's cumulative EVA time is 60 hours, 21 minutes, which places her in 5th place for total EVA time. At age 57 on her final flight, she was also the oldest female astronaut ever in space at that time, and remains the oldest woman to fly in Earth orbit.Whitson returned to Earth on September 3, 2017 having accrued a total of 665 days in space over the course of her career, making her NASA's most experienced astronaut to date. This total was more time in space than any other American and any other woman worldwide.
On June 15, 2018, Whitson announced her retirement from the agency, effective on the same day. She later became a consultant for Axiom Space and has been selected to be commander of Axiom Mission 2.Whitson was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018.