Peggy Whitson

Peggy Whitson, born on February 9, 1960, is a distinguished American biochemist and astronaut, renowned for her remarkable contributions to space exploration. She began her NASA career with her first mission in 2002, participating in Expedition 5 aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Over the years, Whitson has accumulated an impressive total of six hundred ninety-five days in space, making her the American and female record holder for the most time spent in orbit.

In 2007-2008, during her second mission, Expedition 16, Whitson made history as the first woman to command the ISS. Her leadership continued to shine when she became NASA's Chief Astronaut in 2009, the highest position within the NASA Astronaut Corps. Notably, in 2017, she commanded the ISS for the second time, further solidifying her legacy in space history.

Whitson holds several records, including the oldest woman spacewalker and the most spacewalks by a woman, with a total of ten. Her cumulative extravehicular activity (EVA) time is sixty hours and twenty-one minutes, ranking her seventh for total EVA time. At the age of fifty-seven, she became the oldest woman in space during her final NASA flight, a record that was later surpassed in 2021. However, she remains the oldest woman to orbit the Earth, a title she earned in 2025 at the age of sixty-five.

After retiring from NASA on June 15, 2018, Whitson transitioned to a consultancy role with Axiom Space. She has since commanded Axiom Mission 2 in 2023 and Axiom Mission 4 in 2025. Her influence and achievements were recognized when she was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018.