Peggy Whitson

7 Stories

First Saudi Woman Is Headed to Space in Very Pricey Trip

Along with a record-holding NASA astronaut on a very expensive private SpaceX flight

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia’s first astronauts in decades rocketed toward the International Space Station on a chartered multimillion-dollar flight Sunday. SpaceX launched the ticket-holding crew, led by a retired NASA astronaut now working for the company that arranged the trip. Also on board, per the AP : a US businessman who now...

Record-Breaking Astronaut Back on Earth

Peggy Whitson has spent 665 days in space

(Newser) - Astronaut Peggy Whitson returned to Earth late Saturday, wrapping up a record-breaking flight that catapulted her to first place for US space endurance. Whitson's 665 days off the planet—288 days on this mission alone—exceeds that of any other American and any other woman worldwide. She checked out...

Peggy Whitson Just Outdid All Fellow US Astronauts

She breaks the record of 534 cumulative days in space

(Newser) - Another day, another milestone for US astronaut Peggy Whitson: On Monday, she set the record for cumulative days in space by American. NASA tweeted that Whitson, currently on her third mission, surpassed Jeff Williams' record of 534 days. "It's actually a huge honor to break a record like...

Space Station Shield Lost During Spacewalk

US astronauts 'MacGyvered' a solution

(Newser) - In space, nobody can hear you scream, "Oh no, there goes the shielding"—apart from Mission Control. American astronauts Peggy Whitson and Shane Kimbrough suffered a frustrating setback during a spacewalk Thursday when one of the four fabric shields they were installing on the exterior of the International...

Astronauts OK After Rough Landing

Soyuz capsule veers hundreds of miles off course

(Newser) - Three space travelers returning from the International Space Station are OK after a rough landing hundreds of miles off course in Kazakhstan this morning, Space.com reports. The Soyuz space capsule carrying US astronaut Peggy Whitson, a Russian cosmonaut, and South Korea's first astronaut veered nearly 300 miles off target...

Space Shuttle Heads for Earth
Space Shuttle Heads for Earth
Feb 18, 2008 7:58 AM CST

Space Shuttle Heads for Earth

Atlantis returns as March 11 flight rolls onto launch pad

(Newser) - The space shuttle Atlantis parted ways with the International Space Station this morning and headed back towards the confines of Earth, even as NASA was rolling another shuttle onto the launch pad, preparing for its March 11th mission. In its 9-day stay, Atlantis attached Europe’s first permanent laboratory to...

Risky Spacewalk Juices Up ISS
Risky Spacewalk Juices Up ISS
Jan 30, 2008 12:57 PM CST

Risky Spacewalk Juices Up ISS

7-hour mission on solar wing improves power supply

(Newser) - US astronauts pulled off a risky repair mission on the International Space Station’s troubled solar wing today, the AP reports. The possibility of electrical shock made the 7-hour spacewalk dangerous, forcing the team to wait until the station was on the dark side of the planet. “Yee-haw! Excellent,...

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