She went on to become an astronaut, and Whitson visited the International Space Station for the first time in 2002. Whitson, an Iowa native, is no stranger to shattering records. the astronaut replied by discussing studies about the human body's reaction to living in microgravity and how to support life during a multiyear Mars mission. Back then, she was a researcher who supported space missions from the ground. ... As of April, she has spent more days in space cumulatively than any American astronaut, ever. NASA astronaut and space station commander Peggy Whitson does some troubleshooting on the space station in December 2016. AP For more information on Onizuka, click here. The 879-day global record, held by Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, still stands. We're growing cabbage now, it's called Chinese cabbage. "This is a very special day in the glorious history of American space flight...That's an incredible record to break," President Trump said. By the time Whitson returns to Earth in September, she will have spent 666 days in space. Right now I think we've got it easy by comparison. Whitson was 56 when she left for her third long-term mission aboard the space station last November, making her the oldest U.S. woman in space, as we reported. She also said the International Space Station is providing "a key bridge from us living on earth to going somewhere in deep space," and it is crucial to the Mars mission. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Gus Grissom died in a launch pad fire during a test for the upcoming first Apollo flight.. McAuliffe was killed, along with her six fellow astronauts (Francis R. Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Judith A. Resnik, Ellison S. Onizuka, Ronald E. McNair, and Gregory B. Jarvis), when the NASA's Space Shuttle Challenger Mission 51-L exploded only 73 seconds after its launch on the morning of January 28, 1986. I talk to my husband pretty much every day. Astronauts already have such amazing jobs, but Scott Kelly's in particular is probably a smidge more envy-inducing. As of April, she has spent more days in space cumulatively than any American astronaut, ever. I think for those future exploration missions, where we're not gonna have that immediate communications capability because we're going to be going such distances that it's going to take maybe 20 minutes for a message to get one way to Mars, so it's going to be a dramatic change. Trump then said he hopes to make that happen in his first or second term, "So we'll have to speed that up a little bit, OK?" I also feel that the International Space Station is a critical stepping zone and the research we're doing here is going to help take us to those distant destinations and further explore space. -- U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson is smashing records left and right. Both of these are the record for the largest total number of spacewalks by a male and a female, and the most cumulative time spent on spacewalks by a male and a female. ", When Whitson repeated her mention of the 2030s — citing space flight's need for "a lot of time and money" — Trump jokingly replied, "Well, we want to try and do it during my first term or, at worst, during my second term. I talk to my parents and my family probably once a week at least, and friends all the time too. Astronaut Who Spent the Most Time in Space The cosmonaut Sergei Vasilyevich Avdeyev (1956- ) has spent the longest time in space; he logged 747.6 days on 3 flights from 1991-1999. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins casting her vote from some 200 miles above Earth should be all the motivation you need to make a plan to vote this year. ", Their talk soon turned to Trump's plan to send people to Mars, with Whitson saying that at NASA, "we're excited about the missions to Mars in the 2030s. Peggy Whitson on the International Space Station. And it's really not as bad as it sounds. Whitson, 57, broke the record for the most cumulative time in space by an American astronaut early Monday, streaking past the 534-day record previously held by Jeff Williams. John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. The U.S. presidential race is a near dead heat, this A.I. Her journey hasn't always been smooth sailing. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson added another feat to her already record-breaking career on Monday when she became the U.S. astronaut with the … @ISS_Research has it all.
