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A RECORD-SHATTERING NASA astronaut touched down to Earth today, finishing a 288-day mission that makes her the American who has spent the most cumulative amount of time in space.
Peggy Whitson, 57, is also the oldest female astronaut in the history of space exploration, was the first female International Space Station commander, and holds the record for number of spacewalks (10) by a woman.
The biochemist completed a mission at the International Space Station that began in November 2016, covering 196.7 million kilometres and 4,623 orbits of Earth.
She and crewmates Jack Fischer of NASA and Fyodor Yurchikhin of Russian space agency Roscosmos landed in Kazakhstan at 7.31am local time Sunday (2.21am Irish time) in a Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft.
Whitson has racked up 665 days in space in her career, more than any other American astronaut. She is eighth on the all-time space endurance list, NASA said.
Her colleague Jack “2Fish” Fischer, 43, went into space as a rookie but has won over space-watchers with his boundless enthusiasm during his four-and-a-half months aboard the ISS.
He likened the feeling of his spacewalk with Whitson in May – the 200th ISS spacewalk – to a “ginormous fondue pot, bubbling over with piping hot awesomesauce”.
“Heading home soon… I hope I infected a few of you with my passion for space. Never stop learning and growing. I dare you to dream!” he tweeted on Friday.
NASA footage showed Whitson brought out last from the capsule before being seated and handed flowers by a member of the crew at the landing site.
Space veteran
After earning a doctorate in biochemistry in 1985, Whitson worked as a NASA scientist for seven years before starting as an astronaut in 1997.
On this most recent mission, Whitson conducted experiments with human stem cells, blood samples and grew several crops of Chinese cabbage, according to posts on her Facebook page.
“The best part, was that after we harvested for the science, we got to eat the rest!” she said of her greens.
In an interview before departing the space station, Whitson said she was looking forward to flush toilets (“Trust me, you don’t want to know the details”) and pizza.
But, “I will miss seeing the enchantingly peaceful limb of our Earth from this vantage point. Until the end of my days, my eyes will search the horizon to see that curve,” she said, according to a transcript of the interview posted on the NASA website.
She noted that she’s not totally comfortable with the attention she receives for her various records and her status as a role model.
“I honestly do think that it is critical that we are continuously breaking records, because that represents us moving forward in exploration,” Whitson said.
The scientist also has a silly side. To celebrate the 4th July holiday, she posted photos and a video of herself and Fischer wearing loud red, white and blue outfits, striking poses in zero gravity.
“I am not sure what the future holds for me personally, but I envision myself continuing to work on spaceflight programs. My desire to contribute to the spaceflight team as we move forward in our exploration of space has only increased over the years,” she said of her plans.
The astronauts’ return comes as the Texas city of Houston, home to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, has been struggling to get back to normalcy after a week of deadly flooding triggered by Hurricane Harvey.
“As a result of the impacts of Hurricane Harvey, NASA is reviewing return plans to Houston of Whitson, Fischer and the science samples landing in the Soyuz spacecraft,” the space agency said.
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Hi everyone, I’ve never posted a comment before as I like to read them but I would ask that a little respect for her as I knew her and her family. Her death was sudden and she was a lovely woman, so please be mindful of that when posting. Thank you
Hi everybody I’m just asking for a little bit of respect as I know the woman and her family, so please be mindful of that when you make a comment. She was a lovely woman and her death was sudden. Thank you
Do they put the remains back out or what? This is very interesting
@Ísla Carabine:
Wonder if they’re superstitious?
@Glascott Richard Symes: Surely it would be better to cremate first, then scatter the ashes on the water so that this situation doesn’t arise. What if the same thing happens again.
@Glascott Richard Symes: please tell me you’re joking.
I honestly didn’t know it was even an option here. Terrible for the family right now of course but it’s certainly sounds much more pleasant than being buried
@Avina Laaf: generally I’m not but I would be if this happened!
@Glascott Richard Symes: hang on! The coffin goes out to sea as well?!
Very disappointed with the comments. This women was an Irish citizen and obviously it was a wish to be buried at sea. It’s unfortunate that her remains were washed ashore, this must be heartbreaking for the family to have to deal with. My condolences to the family and friends.
@Donna: I agree Donna. Must be quite disturbing for the family after what happened :(
The coffin you use must be made of solid softwood and must not contain any plastic, lead, copper or zinc. It must have:
between 40 and 50 50mm (2 inch) holes drilled throughout
corners butt-jointed and strengthened with mild steel right angle brackets screwed internally, or substantial wooden bracing struts 50 x 38mm
about 200kg of iron, steel or concrete clamped to the base of the coffin with brackets of 10mm mild steel bar, or blocks of weak concrete mix
weight distributed evenly to prevent the coffin from turning to the vertical
2 long mild steel bands running from the top to the bottom of the coffin
several mild steel bands across the coffin at about 30cm intervals along its length
The coffin and any inner box or liner must be made from natural, non-toxic and biodegradable materials. They must both be able to withstand any impact and be able to carry the body quickly to the seabed.
The only time I have heard of anything similar to this was when some fishermen reckoned that a beam trawler had smashed up a coffin and let the remains up into the current/tide. It may also explain this. Beamers wreck the sea bed.
There are two issues here, first it must be incredibly upsetting and distressing for the family and all who know this woman and anyone would feel for them. Second issue is an environmental one and there are very good reasons why as a species we don’t just bury bodies where we feel like it. Imagine if the body was only a few weeks dead and few kids found it? Insane practise.
Can’t have bodies resurfacing and washing up because bodies are allowed to be buried at sea ,with regulations to protect the environment . You should only be buried at sea as a last resort and not as a choice
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